The success of the off-the-shelf immunotherapy, called talquetamab, was even seen in patients whosewas resistant to all approved multiple myeloma therapies. It uses a different target than other approved therapies: a receptor expressed on the surface of cancer cells known as GPRC5D.New England Journal of Medicine
"This means that almost three-quarters of these patients are looking at a new lease on life," said Ajai Chari, MD, Director of Clinical Research in the Multiple Myeloma Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute and lead author of both studies."Talquetamab induced a substantial response among patients with heavily pretreated, relapsed, or refractory multiple myeloma, the second-most-common blood cancer.
This Phase 1 clinical trial enrolled 232 patients at several cancer centers across the world between January 2018 and November 2021. Patients received a variety of doses of theeither intravenously or injected under their skin; future studies will focus on doses only administered under the skin either weekly or every other week
The overall response rate in these two groups was about 73%, Dr. Chari said. The response rate was maintained throughout various subgroups examined, with the exception of patients with a rare form of multiple myeloma that also extends to organs and soft tissues. More than 30% of patients in both groups had a complete response or better, and nearly 60% had a"very good partial response" or better .