New treatment combination delays multiple myeloma progression and may improve survival, study finds

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Patients with multiple myeloma who received a new immunotherapy combination lived significantly longer without their cancer worsening and showed early signs of improved survival in a large international clinical trial. 

Peter M. Voorhees, M.D., professor of medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and hematologist at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, presented the study’s findings during the plenary session at the European Hematology Association Congress in Sweden on Saturday. The study was published June 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that often returns after treatment. When it does, it becomes harder to treat, highlighting the need for more effective therapies. 

This phase 3 trial evaluated a new combination that includes talquetamab, an immune-based therapy that helps the body’s T cells target and kill myeloma cells. Researchers compared two talquetamab-based combinations — talquetamab plus daratumumab with or without pomalidomide — to a commonly used standard treatment of daratumumab, pomalidomide and dexamethasone. 

“When multiple myeloma comes back, it can be incredibly difficult for patients and their families,” Voorhees said. “This study suggests we may be able to offer a treatment to give patients more time, better disease control and most importantly, renewed hope.” 

More than 860 study participants with multiple myeloma that had come back after at least one prior treatment took part in the study. Participants were enrolled at more than 180 sites across 18 countries, highlighting the global scope of the trial. 

Key Findings: 

• Longer time without disease worsening. About eight in 10 patients who received a talquetamab-based combination were alive without their cancer progressing two years after starting treatment, compared with about five in 10 patients receiving standard therapy. 

• Stronger treatment responses. Nearly nine in 10 patients receiving the new combinations saw their cancer shrink, compared with about eight in 10 on standard treatment. 

• Early signs of improved survival. More patients in the talquetamab groups were alive at two years compared with those receiving standard care, although longer follow-up is needed to confirm the full survival benefit. 

While patients who received the new treatment still experienced side effects, the study found they were in line with the expected side effects of the individual drugs and relatively few patients required stopping treatment. Some patients experienced changes in taste, decreased weight and balance issues. 

Researchers concluded that these talquetamab-based combinations may represent an important new treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a setting where new therapies are urgently needed. 

Additional studies are underway to better understand long-term survival outcomes and to evaluate how these combinations may be used earlier in treatment. 

This study was supported by Johnson & Johnson, NCT05455320. 

Investigators at Atrium Health Levine Cancer helped lead this global clinical trial. Atrium Health Levine Cancer is the largest cancer program in the Carolinas and includes the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the academic core of Advocate Health, advances cancer care through more than 1,000 clinical trials nationwide. 

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About Wake Forest University School of Medicine   

Wake Forest University School of Medicine is the academic core of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health and a recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research. It directs the education of nearly 1,900 students and fellows, including physicians, basic scientists and allied clinical professionals. The school of medicine also strategically investigates opportunities that will expand basic and clinical research, resulting in nationally and internationally recognized excellence in biomedical research. The school has two campuses, each co-located with leading-edge innovation districts, The Pearl, in Charlotte, and Innovation Quarter, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. These affiliated life-sciences innovation districts focus on advancing health care through new medical technologies and biomedical discovery.   

About Advocate Health 

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States. A preeminent academic health system at the forefront of clinical excellence, innovation and research, it delivers care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin and Michigan, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine is its academic core. Nationally recognized for expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, Advocate Health is also a pioneer in the delivery of virtual health care. It is accelerating discovery by making research participation part of the standard-of-care through its one-of-a-kind National Center for Clinical Trials, plus two affiliated life-sciences-focused innovation districts and one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs. With more than 165,000 teammates serving patients at 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations across eight states, Advocate Health reinvests over $6 billion each year to improve community health, making it one of the nation’s largest providers of community benefit.  

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