J&J drug helps delay multiple myeloma in high-risk patients

The Johnson & Johnson drug Darzalex showed promise in helping keep a precancerous condition from progressing to the blood cancer multiple myeloma for those at high risk, according to results from a trial presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

Darzalex, a monoclonal antibody that targets a protein found on the surface of myeloma cells known as CD38, significantly reduced patients’ risk of developing the blood cancer and improved their survival in an international late-stage trial.

"These results are a major advancement in the treatment of high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma," study leader Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota said in a statement.

In smoldering multiple myeloma, abnormal plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow. As the abnormal cells and certain proteins accumulate, a patient's risk for cancer increases.

In the trial of 390 patients with high-risk SMM, participants received either Darzalex, known chemically as daratumumab, or active monitoring.

After a median follow-up of 65.2 months, researchers saw a 51 per cent reduction in the risk of disease progression or death in patients receiving daratumumab, according to a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

At five years, 63 per cent of patients in the daratumumab group remained progression-free, compared to 41 per cent in the active monitoring group. Survival at five years was 93 per cent in the daratumumab group versus 87 per cent for monitoring.

"For the first time, we have a treatment option that can significantly delay or prevent the progression to active disease, improving the lives of patients and offering them a chance at a longer, healthier future," Rajkumar said.

(Reuters)