Older Multiple Myeloma Patients Require Personalized Treatment
New Method Developed To Improve Outcomes
New York, NY, April 29, 2021 – Precision treatment that identifies the best medications to treat multiple myeloma (MM) is key to improving outcomes for older, frail patients according to a new report in the June (2021) issue of Aging AND Cancer.
While MM is an incurable disease, advances in drug treatments over the last 20 years have improved quality of life. However, older patients tend to have less tolerance for the side effects associated with the typical three-drug regimen, usually administered in regular infusion appointments that can last months to years. Therefore, older adults tend to be under-treated, often receiving two-drugs regimens with less likelihood for a good response.
Dubbed Myeloma Drug Sensitivity Testing, or My-DST, Dr. Daniel Sherbenou and colleagues at the University of Colorado Division of Hematology have developed a method to test multiple drugs against an individual’s myeloma in cell culture to determine which selection of medications will be most effective, while avoiding ones that will have minimal to no detectable efficacy, thereby providing a path to minimize medication side-effects.
“Treating MM, especially in older patients, epitomizes the struggle to balance treatment options and the possible complications. Studies have shown repeatedly that two-drug combinations are inferior to three, so when elderly patients receive only two medications, they are unfortunately receiving inferior treatment. Thus, picking the right medications in these situations would be a huge step forward,” said Dr. Sherbenou.
In their recent study, they demonstrate that My-DST could accurately determine which drugs for each individual’s unique malignancy, suggesting that implementing this approach would lead to better outcomes. And since most elderly patients cannot tolerate the three-drug regimen, if only efficacious drugs are employed, patients should experience better outcomes while avoiding toxicities associated with multiple drug combinations.
In the U.S. MM comprises roughly 10 percent of all hematologic cancers. The median age of onset is 70 years, and 37 percent of newly diagnosed cases are in patients at least 75-years-old. There are now more than 35,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States, a number that has risen steadily in parallel to an expanding aging population.
“There are significant disparities in treating cancer in older populations,” said Dr. Samuel Waxman, Founder and CEO of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation. “Lack of inclusion in clinical trials as well as under-funded research focused on older patients, results in less adequate treatment, greater risk for cancer, and rising incidences of cancer due to aging. Studies such as Dr. Sherbenou’s are vital for improving the quality of care for older adults.”
About the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF):
The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation is an international organization dedicated to curing and preventing cancer. The Foundation is a pioneer in cancer research and its mission is to eradicate cancer by funding cutting-edge research that identifies and corrects abnormal gene function that causes cancer and develops minimally toxic treatments for patients. Through the Foundation’s collaborative group of world-class scientists, the Institute Without Walls, investigators share information and tools to speed the pace of cancer research. Since its inception in 1976, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation has awarded more than $100 million to support the work of more than 200 researchers across the globe. For more information, visit www.waxmancancer.org.
About Aging AND Cancer:
Aging AND Cancer is a relatively new open access journal from Wiley focused on understanding how the process of aging is a central component of cancer evolution and progression. The journal covers basic, translational and clinical findings that are of broad interest, investigating the mechanisms via which age-associated deterioration of the individual, from macromolecules to tissues and organs, promote the onset, progression and relapse of cancer, treatment options and outcomes. This journal provides a forum for new results and ideas that improve our understanding for how old age influences many different facets of cancer, from incidence to its development and pathology to treatment outcomes to psycho-social aspects of living with cancer. The journal is published in affiliation with the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.
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