Dr. Gasparetto on Efficacy of Selinexor Combination in Multiple Myeloma

Cristina Gasparetto, MD, assistant professor of medicine, member of the Duke Cancer Institute, discuss the efficacy of selinexor in combination with dexamethasone and daratumumab (Darzalex) for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

This combination is not approved by the FDA but researchers are still accumulating data, explains Gasparetto. Both are being investigated in phase III trials, creating potential for 2 additional drugs for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

The number of patients treated on the combination study was very small, but Gasparetto says that the community is excited about the signal the treatment is showing. Selinexor was previously investigated in combination with dexamethasone in refractory patients with multiple myeloma, where it showed efficacy as a single-agent.

In this trial, selinexor combined with weekly bortezomib (Velcade) and low-dose dexamethasone produced rapid and durable responses in a dose escalation/expansion trial of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The overall response rate was 84% in patients who had relapsed after a proteasome inhibitor (PI) or were naïve to a PI, and 43% in patients whose disease was refractory to a PI.