Multiple myeloma (MM) is a chronic, incurable cancer affecting plasma cells within the bone marrow. Normally, plasma cells make antibodies that protect against infection. While MM is not thought to be inheritable, it is caused by genetic mutations developing during a person’s lifetime. Mutations are different in each person, making MM a tricky cancer to treat. More than half of people who develop it are older than 65. It affects men more than women and Black and Latino populations at higher rates.
Immunotherapies to Treat Multiple Myeloma
Froedtert & MCW leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma specialists are highly experienced and skilled at treating MM. They are internationally known for MM treatment discoveries, some of them groundbreaking. They also work with global research teams to bring B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted treatments into standard care when the first treatments do not work or stop working.
Emerging immunotherapies have proven effective in extending life for people with MM, leading to FDA approval of treatments such as BCMA-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. CAR T-cell therapy may work when MM comes back or doesn’t respond to treatment. Yet, more work is needed, given MM’s tendency to evolve within the tumor’s ecosystem, also called the microenvironment.
Dual-Functioning Investigational Drug Trial
Binod Dhakal, MD, medical oncologist, MCW researcher and faculty member, is leading a first-in-human phase I FDA-approved investigational new drug clinical trial studying a novel type of BCMA-armored therapy for MM.
“This trial targets a cytokine, a small protein in the tumor microenvironment called transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β),” Dr. Dhakal said. “Sometimes, TGF-β is called a change agent. It is dual-functioning — either stopping cancer onset or promoting tumor growth and metastasis at later cancer stages.”
Genetically Modified Cells to Treat Myeloma
Eligible people receive the therapy as inpatients. Cells extracted from the patient’s immune system/bloodstream are genetically modified at the Cellular Therapy Lab on the Froedtert Hospital campus and returned to their bloodstream to eliminate cancer. The lab reduces production time to less than 14 days compared to an outside lab’s four to six weeks.
“This timeline is a distinct advantage for MM patients whose disease can progress quickly,” said Peiman Hematti, MD, hematologist, director of the MCW Cancer Center Cellular Therapy Shared Resource (CTSR), MCW faculty member and researcher.
The MCW CTSR is among a select group of cell processing laboratories in the country that can manufacture cells for treatment on-site and thus provides resources for MCW researchers to launch new clinical trials.
This BCMA-armored CAR T-cell therapy trial is only available through the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network.
