Contemporary patient-tailored treatment strategies against high risk and relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma

Abstract

Recurrence of disease due to chemotherapy drug resistance remains a major obstacle to a more successful survival outcome of multiple myeloma (MM). Overcoming drug resistance and salvaging patients with relapsed and/or refractory (R/R) MM is an urgent and unmet medical need. Several new personalized treatment strategies have been developed against molecular targets to overcome this drug resistance. There are several targeted therapeutics with anti-MM activity in clinical pipeline, including inhibitors of anti-apoptotic proteins, monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, fusion proteins, and various cell therapy platforms. For example, B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-specific CAR-T cell platforms showed promising activity in heavily pretreated R/R MM patients. Therefore, there is renewed hope for high-risk as well as R/R MM patients in the era of personalized medicine.

Keywords: Biotherapy; Immuno-oncology; Immunotherapy; Multiple myeloma; Personalized medicine; Stem cell transplantation.