Belantamab Mafodotin Yields Good Response Rate in Patients With Relapsed, Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Among patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), treatment with belantamab mafodotin appears to be a valid therapeutic option with potential clinical benefits, according to a real-world analysis presented at the 19th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the International Myeloma Society.

While treatment options have expanded in the MM space over the past several decades, patients with RR disease are at risk of poor clinical outcomes. This has been noted in particular among patients refractory to proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulators, and anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies, which are frequently used in this setting.

Belantamab mafodotin, an immunoconjugate targeting BCMA, has previously shown promise in phase 1 and phase 2 trials among patients with RRMM; based on study results, furthermore, the drug has received approval for advanced RRMM in the US and in Europe. For this retrospective study, researchers evaluated clinical outcomes among individuals with RRMM who received at least 1 belantamab mafodotin dose, with or without corticosteroids, at 1 of 12 hospital sites in Israel.

Overall, data from 106 patients were included; the median follow-up was 11.9 months. Analysis showed that the overall response rate was 45.5%; 4% of patients had a complete response. No established clinical or demographic factors appeared to predict for response on univariate analysis.

At follow-up, the median progression-free survival was 4.7 months (95% CI, 3.5-5.9). Among patients with a response, the median progression-free survival was 8.8 months (95% CI, 6.6-10.9).

The median overall survival (OS), furthermore, was 14.5 months (95% CI, 9.5-19.6), though again patients with at least a partial response had improved OS (median, not reached vs 7.1 months among patients without a response). The 12-month OS rates among patients with a response vs without a response were 81.9% vs 35%, respectively (P =.000016).

Grade 3 or worse adverse events included keratopathy (40%), blurred vision (6.3%), thrombocytopenia (17.9%), anemia (3.8%), neutropenia (4.7%), infection (3.8%), and hypersensitivity or infusion reaction (2.8%). Two deaths from infection deemed related to treatment were noted.

“These findings support the role of belantamab mafodotin as valuable treatment option for heavily-pre-treated RRMM patients,” the authors noted.

Reference

Shragai T, Magen H, Lavi N, et al. Real-world experience with belantamab mafodotin therapy for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a multi-center retrospective study. Presented at IMS 2022; August 25-27, 2022. Abstract P-114.

This article originally appeared on Hematology Advisor