Bhagirathbhai R. Dholaria, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Hematology-Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discussed findings from the phase 2 TRiMM-2 trial of talquetamab plus daratumumab in multiple myeloma.
Bhagirathbhai R. Dholaria, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Hematology-Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discussed findings from the phase 2 TRiMM-2 trial of talquetamab plus daratumumab in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
The findings were presented at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
Transcript
Can you discuss therapeutic rational for combining the bispecific antibody, talquetamab, with the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, daratumumab, in patients who have been heavily pretreated for multiple myeloma?
Daratumumab is one of the most effective therapies for newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. And one of the important immunomodulatory effects of datatumumab is actually that it also depletes the CD38 expressing regulatory T cell. The hope was that you can potentially improve the efficacy of talquetamab, which relies on the host T cell function, to attack the cancer and control the myeloma. If you combine both of these together, maybe you can potentiate the antimyeloma activity of talquetamab.
Can you describe the patient population in this study—how many lines of treatment had most received, and how many had received chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy?
So these patients had relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma with 3 or more prior lines of therapy, and who had double refractory myeloma. We did allow prior exposure to CAR T-cell therapy or other bipecific monoclonal antibody therapy in this trial. These were a heavily pretreated group with a median of 5 or more lines of therapies. A majority of these patients—more than 90%—had [B cell] disease, which is refractory to daratumumab. We also had around 11 patients who had prior CAR T-cell therapy and 15 patients who had prior bispecific antibody drug therapy exposure.
Can you characterize the quality of the responses in these patients?
Responses were encouraging. In the 0.4 mg/kg cohort in combination with daratumumab, around 70% of patients had an overall response rate. Among the patient who were in the 0.8 mg/kg biweekly cohort with daratumumab, the overall response rate was more than 80%, which is slightly better than what we achieve in monotherapy talquetamab now. These responses were rapid and also deepened over time, and very few patients actually required those interruptions [or came] off the trial because of the side effects.
How did cytokine release syndrome (CRS) compare to what is seen following other treatments for multiple myeloma?
CRS was one of the most commonly reported side effects, so it happened the majority of the patients, typically during the cycle 1 of the therapy during this step of dosing. However, most CRS events were grade 1 or grade 2, and they were managed quite well. In terms of neurotoxicity, the overall incidence was low, and all events with neurotoxicity were grade 1 or grade 2.
ATS 2024: Bridging the Past, Present, and Future of Respiratory Care
May 16th 2024The application of artificial intelligence in medicine is anticipated as a highlight of ATS 2024, with sessions exploring its applications in research, radiological interpretation, and pediatric pulmonology.
Read More
The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation
August 29th 2023At this year’s American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, delivered the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture, “The Imperative to Focus on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation,” as the recipient of this year’s Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology award.
Listen
Looking Back on ISPOR 2024: Hot Policy Topics, Welcome Focus on Employers, and More
May 10th 2024Kimberly Westrich, MA, chief strategy officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council, reflects on the most valuable learnings from the 2024 meeting of ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, including lively discussions of the Inflation Reduction Act and workshops on value assessment.
Read More
Promoting Equity in Public Health: Policy, Investment, and Community Engagement Solutions
June 28th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.
Listen
Posters Characterize DMD Caregiver Experiences, Impact of Gene Therapy on Caregiving Demands
May 10th 2024Posters presented at the ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research meeting explored Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) caregiver experiences and gene therapy’s impact on work opportunities for caregivers.
Read More
A Focus on Women: AUA Best Posters Highlight Female Athletes, Prenatal Care, and Women in Urology
May 9th 2024Three posters from the American Urological Association (AUA) 2024 Annual Meeting focused on urinary incontinence in female athletes, prenatal care for fetuses with spina bifida in California, and the experiences of women residents at the Brady Urological Institute.
Read More