AJMC Introduces 14-part Video Series on Multiple Myeloma Treatment

A new video series by the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) features experts discussing issues related to multiple myeloma treatment.

Called “A Review of the Treatment for Multiple Myeloma,” the 14-part educational series is the AJMC’s latest panel discussion.

“During this educational video series, our panel of experts, led by Dr. Keith Stewart, will come together to discuss strategies and resources available for achieving the best possible outcomes for patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma,” Michael J. Hennessy Jr., president of MJH Associates, parent company of AJMC, said a press release.

Experts on the peer-exchange panel include panel moderator Stewart, MB, ChB, professor of medicine and a hematology and oncology consultant at the Mayo Clinic’s department of internal medicine; Mary E. DeRome, MSc, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s director of medical communications and education; Rafael Fonseca, MD, a professor of medicine and Mayo Clinic chair of the department of internal medicine; and Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the University of Chicago Medicine multiple myeloma program.

Panelists in the opening discussion examine how real-world data can help address some of the practical, personal, and economic issues that arise during myeloma treatment.

“One of the biggest areas of need, I feel, is education of the community of healthcare providers,” DeRome says in the video. “I mean, that’s where the vast majority of our patients are treated. And these community doctors need a lot of education and a lot of help keeping up with all the developments in myeloma over the years.”

Another session reviews dosing strategies, based on ARROW Phase 3 trial (NCT02412878) data for relapsed or refractory patients. That study is aimed at comparing once-weekly and twice-weekly Kyprolis dosing, in combination with dexamethasone, in people with myeloma who had received between two and three prior lines of therapy.

“I think, you know, if the person [is] a slow relapser, [and] there’s not a progressive disease, I think it’s probably better to err a little bit on the lower side on safety,” Fonseca said.

There also is a discussion of how Darzalex (daratumumab) and other monoclonal antibodies will figure in the treatment landscape for multiple myeloma.

“People are very interested in daratumumab and in the monoclonal antibody therapies in general,” DeRome says. “I think people are looking forward to that. They know it’s coming, and they’re looking forward to having access to that in the frontline.”

Another conversation focused on the practical implications of the multicenter, randomized, open-label MAIA Phase 3 trial (NCT02252172) for patients with newly diagnosed stem cell transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma. MAIA was one of the first studies to focus on an elderly population unable to receive a stem cell transplant.

“This is something that obviously has changed the paradigm of how we think about the transplant-ineligible patients because before this, the only study that could get close to it, and doesn’t quite do it, is the SWOG [Southwest Oncology Group] study,” Fonseca said.

Other discussion subjects include the clinical significance of minimal residual disease testing, the cost of recurrence, considerations for transplant ineligible patients, National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for newly diagnosed patients, the impact of maintenance therapy, achieving the best outcomes, cost considerations of multidrug regimens, age and fitness-based therapies, and individualized therapy.

Visit this site to view the series. The AJMC is the leading multimedia peer-reviewed journal dedicated to issues in managed care.