Noninterventional Study of Lenalidomide Plus Dexamethasone in Resistant Myeloma
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2018
The use of lenalidomide plus dexamethasone in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma has shown clinical activity, based on phase III trials. In a new noninterventional study, published in Leukemia Research, investigators evaluated this combination therapy to compare their findings with those of the registration trials.
“The combination of [lenalidomide and dexamethasone] administered to patients with [relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma] in routine clinical practice showed similar effectiveness and safety as demonstrated in the registration trials,” concluded lead author Wolfgang Knauf, MD, of the Center for Hematology and Oncology at the Agaplesion Bethanien Hospital in Frankfurt, and colleagues.
Included in this study were 98 patients—63 men and 35 women—with elapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who had received at least 1 prior therapy. All patients received at least 1 cycle the combination of lenalidomide and dexamethasone, and 48 patients received at least 6 cycles.
The overall response rate for patients receiving the combination therapy was 60.2% for the entire group, 57.4% for those receiving second-line therapy, and 62.7% for patients who received third-line or higher therapy. The median survival for the entire cohort was 24.3 months, 35.5 months for patients who received second-line therapy, and 21.1 months for patients who received third-line or higher therapy.
Anemia (32.7%), thrombocytopenia (27.6%), and leukopenia (24.5%) were the most common adverse events reported. In addition, despite prophylaxis, seven patients developed thromboembolic events.
