Daratumumab as a Potential Treatment Option for Multiple Myeloma

Jacob Laubach, MD, MPP, from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Instructor in Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, discusses daratumumab as a potential treatment option for patients with multiple myeloma.

Clinical Pearls:

• Daratumumab is a first-in-class CD38 monoclonal antibody
• Since CD38 is present on a number of other cell types, the first in-human dose-finding study proceeded cautiously with 0.005 mg/kg of the agent with dose escalation to 24 mg/kg
• At doses of 4 mg/kg or higher, the overall response rate, including minimal response, was over 60% and the rate of partial response or better was in the range of 40% to 45%, as defined as a 50% reduction in monoclonal protein
• Daratumumab was well tolerated but some infusion reactions were observed, specifically early on in the trial
• Daratumumab is now being studied in combination with other drugs, such as lenalidomide