Kenneth Anderson, MD, on the ‘Revolution’ in Myeloma Therapies

Dr. Anderson, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses his study, “Myeloma as a Paradigm for Developing Novel Therapies Targeting Tumor in its Microenvironment” presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting 2024 in San Diego, California.

“Myeloma is a blood cancer where the tumor cells are in the bone marrow, and it’s relatively easy for us compared to solid tumors to get model systems in the laboratory that reflect both the tumor and the microenvironment,” Dr. Anderson began. “We can use these models to understand intrinsic targets in the tumor cell that might interrupt growth or survival or trigger tumor cell death.”

The “real revolution” in myeloma lies in the immune therapies, Dr. Anderson noted, such as bispecific T-cell engagers and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. In fact, he predicts that CAR-T will be incorporated into the initial management of myeloma in the near future.

“This AACR meeting is the most exciting one ever, because the science has advanced so much that we can really understand the obligate mechanisms for tumor cell growth and survival drug resistance, and how we can overcome these growth mechanisms with the immune system,” he said.