ESMO E-Learning: Treatment of Multiple Myeloma Patients

Multiple myeloma is a field of intense research efforts which result in changes in standard of care. This E-Learning module is a new edition of the previous ESMO module on the same topic and it provides the most updated overview of results from clinical studies, as well as listing ongoing trials in multiple myeloma.

The author puts an emphasis on finding an appropriate balance among treatment efficacy, toxicity and associated costs as a treatment goal. In that regard, the author elaborates different settings of patients with multiple myeloma and lists the treatment goals for each category.

The author elaborates topics such as: the depth of response correlation to survival outcomes, the minimal residual disease (MRD) as a predictor across multiple myeloma patients’ subgroups, the impact of next-generation flow MRD monitoring, MRD monitoring using NGS, the predictive value of PET/CT after treatment, as well as the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria for MRD.

In the second part of the module, the author presents a subset of patients who should not be treated and covers the question about disease control versus curative strategy for high-risk smouldering multiple myeloma.

The author moves from featuring revised IMWG diagnostic criteria for multiple myeloma to cover research efforts in newly diagnosed, transplant-eligible and non-transplant-eligible candidates, as well as to elaborate relapsed settings. These parts of the module are supported by results from recent clinical trials and selected ongoing studies.

In this E-Learning module, the author covers many drugs currently under development and their future outlook. By pointing out that multiple myeloma is a model for scientific and clinical progress from biology to therapeutics, the author concludes that a progress in understanding multiple myeloma cell biology and the discovery of new drugs will lead to individualised and tailored treatment options.