Dr. Kumar on Tourmaline-MM1 Study for Multiple Myeloma

Shaji Kumar, MD, professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, discusses the phase III Tourmaline-MM1 study, which compared the efficacy of the addition of ixazomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Ixazomib is a recently FDA approved oral proteosome inhibitor in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy. The Tourmaline-MM1 study is the clinical trial which led to the approval, Kumar explains.

There were 722 patients enrolled in the trial who were randomized between the two arms. The cohort containing ixazomib had a median progression-free survival of 20.6 months, compared with 14.7 months in those who received lenalidomide and dexamethasone. The ixazomib arm also demonstrated deeper responses and an improvement in overall response rate, Kumar adds.

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