KarMMA: Key Findings of Ide-Cel in Multiple Myeloma: Nina Shah, MD

This content originally appeared on our sister site, OncLive.

OncLive spoke with Nina Shah, MD, hematologist and oncologist, associate professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, about key findings from the phase 2 KarMMA trial (NCT03361748) in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The open-label, single-arm, multicenter KarMMA study was a pivotal trial that evaluated the efficacy of the BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; Abecma) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Shah discussed how these patients needed at least 3 prior lines of therapy and exposure to a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent, and a CD38-directed monoclonal antibody to be eligible for enrollment, as well as having progressive disease at the time of enrollment.

The key findings of the study demonstrated that the overall response rate was 73% across all patients treated with ide-cel and 81% in the patients who received the ide-cel dose of 450 x 106 CAR+ T cells, Shah continues. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 8.6 months in the overall population and 12.2 months in those who received the 450 x 106 CAR+ T cell dose, Shah says.

Additionally, the therapy was reported to be safe, Shah says. Any-grade cytokine release syndrome was observed in 84% of patients and consisted mostly of grade 1 or 2 events, Shah concludes.