Cancer Conference Update: A Multimedia Review of Key Presentations from the 2016 American Society of Hematology Annual MeetingAbstract 490: Pembrolizumab in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for RRMM
1:14 minutes.
TRANSCRIPTION:
DR MIKHAEL: The checkpoint inhibitor story, of course, is prolific in cancer, but has honestly been a bit disappointing in the myeloma world. I mean, if we look at literally every checkpoint inhibitor single-agent study in myeloma, they’ve all essentially been a bust. I mean, response rates have been 5%, essentially, or less; in many, zero. That being said, we’ve understood in myeloma — and we have precedent for drugs that may not have single-agent activity — that, when combined with immune modulatory drugs, they can enhance that activity, as we saw with elotuzumab, for example. So the pembrolizumab/pomalidomide story that was presented by Dr Badros was a very interesting one. It — it’s hard to know how much of the true effect there is of the pembrolizumab, because pomalidomide is a very effective agent. But I think there was evidence here of enough activity, especially in patients with significant IMiD resistance before, for it to proceed. Do I think checkpoint inhibition is going to be a big blockbuster in myeloma? It doesn’t appear that way. But in the right context and the right setting, it may be able to enhance immune modulatory activity. |