Future Research With CAR T Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Frits van Rhee, MD, PhD

This content originally appeared on our sister site, OncLive.

While the use of CAR T-cell therapy is growing in patients with multiple myeloma, the significant question of figuring out where it fits into the treatment algorithm remains. The therapy could be given early in the course of treatment, such as for patients who experience early relapse, those who are diagnosed with aggressive disease, or as a replacement for stem cell transplantation.

OncLive spoke with Frits van Rhee, MD, PhD, professor and director of the myeloma center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and Charles and Clydene Scharlau Chair for Hematological Malignancies, about these questions. He discussed future research directions with CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

Another future opportunity with this modality is to improve upon existing CAR T-cell therapies, van Rhee adds. Thus far, CAR T-cell therapy has been exciting due to the results obtained with only first-generation products, van Rhee notes. To build on this, it is important to examine how to make these treatments persist, and last longer in patients, as well as understand how the bone marrow microenvironment affects the efficacy of these treatments, van Rhee concludes.