Dr. Madduri on Eligibility for CAR T-Cell Therapy in Myeloma

Deepu Madduri, MD, assistant professor, Mount Sinai Hospital, discusses eligibly criteria for patients with multiple myeloma to receive chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

There have been very promising data published recently on the use of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with myeloma, says Madduri. The anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy bb2121 was granted a breakthrough therapy designation for previously treated patients with relapsed/refractory myeloma in November 2017.

Madduri says that the biggest challenge with CAR T-cell therapy for these patients is slot limitation. There are many patients who want to receive CAR T-cell therapy, but it is a matter of how many slots are available, as well as eligibility. To be eligible for CAR T-cell therapy, a patient with myeloma must have received a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory drug, and a CD38 antibody. Additionally, the patient must have good hematological counts, and be relapsed and refractory. The patient cannot have had prior BCMA therapy. Madduri says that it is a matter of qualifying at the right time and the number of slots available.