Dr. Kröger on the Role of Allogenic Stem Cell Transplant in Multiple Myeloma

Nicolaus Kröger, MD, a professor and medical director of the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, discusses the role of allogenic stem cell transplant in patients with multiple myeloma.

Curing multiple myeloma is a challenge, even with the advent of novel agents and CAR T-cell therapy, Kröger says. Only a small portion of patients can be cured; nearly all patients relapse at some point, Kröger says. However, data from large registry studies on the long-term use of allogenic stem cell transplantation indicate that a number of patients can be cured through transplant, Kröger explains.

Therefore, for a young patient who has relapsed following autograft, allogenic stem cell transplantation should be considered as a potentially curative treatment approach, even if novel agents are available, Kröger adds. There has only been a lack of long-term follow up for the majority of novel agents in this disease, Kröger says. Although CAR T-cell therapies are known to be effective, they are often used in a later-stage setting, with most patients relapsing after a relatively progression-free time period, Kröger concludes.