Cilta-Cel 'Significantly' More Effective Versus Conventional Myeloma Therapies

Patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma (MM) who had one to three prior lines of therapy achieved clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and disease-specific symptom burden after a single ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) infusion, according to an adjusted analysis of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) presented at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, California.

“These results from the CARTITUDE-4 study showed the potential of cilta-cel to significantly improve [HRQOL] measures for patients, including pain, fatigue, and emotional functioning,” stated Roberto Mina, MD, of the Division of Hematology at the Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences at the University of Torino in Turin, Italy.

“Cilta-cel has demonstrated deep and durable responses in later lines of therapy, and these results show the potential of cilta-cel for patients with lenalidomide-refractory [MM] as early as after first relapse,” Dr. Mina added. The report specified that improvements in HRQOL were numerically greater with cilta-cel than with continuously administered standard-of-care (SOC) treatments across all scales.

The CARTITUDE-4 trial included 419 participants, of whom 208 were randomized to cilta-cel and 211 to SOC. Researchers evaluated PROs using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30, EuroQoL 5-Dimension 5-Level survey, and Multiple Myeloma Symptom and Impact Questionnaire.

At the data cutoff of November 1, 2022, 99 evaluable patients in the cilta-cel group and 66 in the SOC group had baseline and 12-month PROs recorded. In the cilta-cel arm, patients reported improved functioning and symptom reduction compared with baseline, while patients in the SOC arm trended toward worsening or weaker improvements in most PROs and symptoms.

“With previously reported data showing that cilta-cel significantly improves PFS, response rate, and depth of response, these results strengthen the potential for cilta-cel to be a new SOC for patients with lenalidomide-refractory MM after first relapse,” Dr. Mina and colleagues concluded.

Reference

Mina R, Mylin AK, Yokoyama H, et al. Patient-reported outcomes in the phase 3 CARTITUDE-4 study of ciltacabtagene autoleucel vs standard of care in patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma after 1–3 lines of therapy. Abstract #1063. Presented at the 65th ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition; December 9-12, 2023; San Diego, California.