Daratumumab improves the anti-myeloma effect of newly emerging multidrug therapies

Abstract

Although the clinical outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma has improved tremendously with the advent of bortezomib and immunomodulatory drugs like thalidomide and lenalidomide, the disease remains incurable and patients will eventually be resistant to these drugs. Novel non-cross-resistant modalities of treatment are needed. Immunotherapy is potentially a very promising therapeutic modality for further development. Daratumumab is a novel, high-affinity, therapeutic human monoclonal antibody against a unique CD38 epitope. It induces tumor-cell killing through several immunological mechanisms. It has shown a favorable safety profile as monotherapy and significant single-agent activity in relapsed/refractory myeloma. It has also demonstrated strong synergism with lenalidomide and bortezomib. The potential of this agent, together with its pharmacokinetics, mode of action, early efficacy, and safety data will be detailed in this review.