A trial is under way to examine the effectiveness of a number of novel treatments for multiple myeloma.
The 'ProMMise' trial is run by a team of researchers led by Dr Rakesh Popat of University College London Hospitals. The trial was developed under the Concept and Access Research Programme (CARP) initiative, funded by the charity Myeloma UK.
“The infrastructure funding we received through CARP brought together the experts from Leeds Clinical Trials Unit and clinicians to develop the ProMMise trial,” says Dr Popat.
“We wouldn’t have been able to launch such an innovative, patient-focused trial without CARP.”
The ProMMise trial is one of the first of its kind to be launched in the UK, with its unique platform design allowing researchers to test multiple treatments at the same time in one trial. The trial will open with two arms testing two different treatments, with an additional arm starting later in the trial.
Patients with treatment-resistant relapsed myeloma will receive the drug belantamab mafodotin alone or in combination with other drugs. This is a chemotherapy drug linked to an antibody that allows the drug to bind to a protein on myeloma cells called B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), killing the cell.
Shelagh McKinlay of Myeloma UK said: “It is fantastic to see the ProMMise trial open to recruitment. It is a truly groundbreaking trial designed to support the development of new treatments and meet the needs of patients.
“Today, myeloma patients can get four or more different anti-myeloma drugs at diagnosis or by first relapse, so we are starting to see patients whose myeloma is resistant to multiple treatments earlier in the treatment pathway.”
Professor Sarah Brown of the University of Leeds added: “There is a real need for drugs, like belantamab, that kill myeloma cells in different ways to be made available at earlier relapses.
“Drugs often stop working, and this can be very difficult for patients and their families. This trial will allow patients to access belantamab from the first relapse and provide evidence to support its use through the NHS.”
Source: Myeloma UK
https://www.myeloma.org.uk/news/groundbreaking-myeloma-trial-opens-to-recruitment/
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