New Treatment Can Benefit Patients With MM Refractory to Multiple Other Therapies

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) whose disease is refractory to available treatments may have a better response if they are treated with selinexor with dexamethasone, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that patients taking the oral combination therapy saw a response within 2 months. Selinexor causes cancer cells to die by blocking the export of protein and messenger RNAs from the cancer cell to the cytoplasm. “This study is meaningful for patients with multiple myeloma who haven’t had success on multiple other therapies,” said Ajai Chari, MD, director of clinical research in the Multiple Myeloma Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai. The researchers found that the median progression-free survival was 3.7 months and the median overall survival (OS) was 8.6 months. “This study proved that a novel, first-in-class drug with a new mechanism of action can kill a patient’s cancer cells,” said the study’s senior author, Sundar Jagannath, MBBS, director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and professor of medicine (hematology and medical oncology) at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai. “This proved that the drug worked in patients who had exhausted every other treatment and who would have been placed on hospice care otherwise.”

 — Ajai Chari, MD, Director, Clinical Research in the Multiple Myeloma Program, Associate Director, Clinical Research, Mount Sinai Cancer Clinical Trials Office, Associate Professor, Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Additional coverage: Oncology Learning Network