Dr. Voorhees on the ELOQUENT-3 Trial in Late Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Peter Voorhees, MD, physician, Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health, discusses the randomized phase II ELOQUENT-3 trial (NCT02654132) in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Pomalidomide (Pomalyst)-based treatment regimens have been garnering success in this space, explains Voorhees. In the ELOQUENT-3 trial, investigators demonstrated the clinical utility ofpomalidomide-based triplet therapy. More specifically, investigators showed that progression-free survival (PFS) with the triplet of elotuzumab (Empliciti), pomalidomide, and dexamethasone was superior to pomalidomide and dexamethasone alone.

The triplet therapy demonstrated a higher response rate than the combination alone. Patients treated with the triplet had an overall response rate of 53% versus 26% in the control arm (odds ratio, 3.25; 95% CI, 1.49-7.11; P = .0029). Median PFS was 10.3 months in the elotuzumab group at a median follow-up of 9.1 months. In the control group, median PFS was 4.7 months.

Despite the impact of these results, further investigation is needed, explains Voorhees. The majority of patients in the study were not previously treated with daratumumab (Darzalex) or other CD38 antibodies. Therefore, it remains unknown whether the efficacy of the triplet would diminish from prior exposure to CD38 antibodies, says Voorhees.