An All Oral Treatment for Multiple Myeloma?

Richard Labotka, MD, hematologist-oncologist at the University of Illinois Hospital talks about the latest results from the TOURMALINE-MM2 study presented at ASH 2020.

TOURMALINE-MM2 compared the oral treatment regimen of ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone to placebo, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is a rare blood cancer that most often afflicts the elderly. For them, bone marrow transplant or infusions with standard chemotherapy are not viable options and an oral therapy is preferred.

As Dr. Labotka explains in this video, the ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone combination led to a clinically meaningful, albeit non-statistically significant improvement in progressive free survival (PFS). In newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma taking ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone, PFS was 35.3 months (N=351) compared to 21.8 months in the control group (N=354).