Pomalidomide and dexamethasone favored prolonged and safe exposure to treatment patients with heavily treated and end-stage relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, a study published online ahead of print in the journal Annals of Oncology has shown.1
The IFM2009-02 trial evaluated pomalidomide and dexamethasone in very advanced relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
The study demonstrated that 40% of patients had prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival. Therefore, researchers sought to analyze the characteristics of these patients and assess the impact of long exposure to pomalidomide on outcomes.
Continue Reading
Researchers classified patients into 2 groups: 3 months to less than 1 year, and 1 year or more of treatment with pomalidomide and dexamethasone. Results showed that the overall response rate for the less than 1-year group was 43% compared with 83% for the more than 1-year group, Median progression-free survival was 4.6 months (95% CI, 3.8 – 6.4) and 20.7 months (95% CI, 14.7 – 35.4), respectively.
Median overall survival was 15 months (95% CI, 11.7 – 20.3) with less than 1 year of pomalidomide, while median overall survival had not yet been reached with more than 1 year exposure. The 18-month overall survival rate was 40% and 91%, respectively.
Although regimen optimization of pomalidomide-dexamethasone is warranted in advanced relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, the authors “believe pomalidomide has proved once more to change the natural history of myeloma in this series, which should be confirmed in a larger study.”
Reference
- Fouquet G, Pegourie B, Macro M, et al. Safe and prolonged survival with long-term exposure to pomalidomide in relapsed/refractory myeloma [published online ahead of print January 19, 2016]. Ann Oncol. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdw017.
