Dr. Lonial on the ICARIA-MM Trial in Heavily Pretreated Multiple Myeloma

Sagar Lonial, MD, FACP, professor and chair, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, chief medical officer, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discusses the ICARIA-MM trial in patients with multiple myeloma who experience early relapse, have been heavily pretreated, or have refractory disease.

The trial compared the addition of isatuximab to pomalidomide (Pomalyst) plus dexamethasone versus pomalidomide plus dexamethasone alone and accrued patients with multiple myeloma who had received around 3 to 4 lines of prior therapy, explains Lonial.

The isatuximab arm saw a significant improvement in the duration of remission and the benefit appears to be as strong in some of the high-risk subsets, says Lonial. The ICARIA-MM trial is one of the few later-line studies that confirms the theory that a pomalidomide plus a CD38-targeted therapy could be of similar benefit versus pomalidomide alone, concludes Lonial.