An experimental drug fast-tracked through development by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is already showing huge promise in the fight against multiple myeloma, the blood-born cancer that leads to more than 11,000 deaths annually.
The drug, Elotuzumab, reduced the risk of cancer progression and death by 30 percent when combined with the current standard two-drug therapy for multiple myeloma, researchers found in a study released in June. The study was the first to track the progress of the new drug.
Elotuzumab makes cancer cells more vulnerable to attacks from patients’ immune system, while bolstering the immune system itself, the study found.
“It’s a bit of a double-whammy,” said Dr. Sagar Lonial, executive vice chair of hematology and oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and the study’s senior author.
What is multiple myeloma?
Multiple myeloma is relatively rare, with just fewer than 30,000 new cases diagnosed each year. However, because the symptoms “” fatigue, loss of appetite, frequent infections and leg weakness “” are somewhat vague, it usually isn’t diagnosed until the disease has progressed and has a higher mortality rate than most cancers.
It forms in white blood cells, hampering the immune system’s ability to make antibodies that recognize and attack germs. It also leads to the accumulation of cancer cells in bone marrow, where it crowds out healthy blood cells. Instead of producing antibodies that the immune system needs, the cancer cells produce abnormal proteins that often lead to kidney problems. The effect on kidneys is often how the disease is found.
Improving the usual treatment
Standard therapy for myleoma is a two-drug cocktail that includes a chemotherapy drug, lenalidomide, and a steroid called dexamethasone. When added to that treatment, Elotuzumab targets a protein known as SLAMF7 found on the surface of myeloma cells, the study found. Targeting the protein helps stem the growth of cancer cells.
In the trial, which followed treatment of nearly 650 patients, half were given the new drug. The new treatment reduced the risk of cancer progression by 30 percent while significantly increasing remission periods, researchers reported. It also increased patient response to treatment. Nearly 80 percent of patients getting the three-drug cocktail responded to the treatment, compared to 66 percent with the chemotherapy drug and steroid alone.
