Dr. Weitzman on Reusing Treatments in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

James Weitzman, MD, medical oncologist, Emerson Hospital and Waltham Cancer Center of Massachusetts General Cancer Center, discusses reusing treatments in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Oftentimes, reusing drugs is necessary in patients with relapsed/refractory disease, says Weitzman. Graphing out what regimens an individual has received, as well as their light chains, immunoglobulin, and monoclonal spike can shed light on whether the patient is truly refractory or partially refractory to a therapy.

Although it is preferred to use an agent that a patient is not refractory to, if the individual has not received the drug for 6 months, they may respond to that treatment in combination with another drug, says Weitzman.

For example, if an immunomodulatory drug (IMiD) was not effective in combination with a proteasome inhibitor, the same IMiD plus a monoclonal antibody could have synergy and elicit a response, concludes Weitzman.