Dr. Usmani on Current Challenges in High-Risk Multiple Myeloma

Saad ​Z. Usmani, MD, FACP, chief of the Plasma Cell Disorders Program and director of Clinical Research in Hematologic Malignancies, at the Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health, discusses current challenges in patients with high-risk multiple myeloma. space.

High-risk patients make up a small percentage of the total population of patients with myeloma that are included in many frontline, randomized phase 3 studies, says Usmani. Moreover, trial enrollment has not been robust enough ​to observe clinical benefit within this patient population. As such, ​ there is no established standard of care.

In 2011, the National Cancer Institute Myeloma Steering Committee identified high-risk features in multiple myeloma based upon the information available at the time, says Usmani. Moreover, this led to the first high-risk clinical trial for patients with newly diagnosed and high-risk disease.