Luciano Costa, MD, PhD, Discusses the Safety Profile of Dara-KRd From the MASTER Trial in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

At the 2021 International Myeloma Conference, CancerNetwork® spoke with Luciano Costa, MD, PhD, of O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, about the safety profile of daratumumab (Darzalex), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (Dara-KRd) as seen in the phase 2 MASTER trial (NCT03224507).

Transcript:

I wouldn’t say there were any new safety findings, but what we saw was toxicities that have been seen in prior studies with any one of the drugs [ that were] utilized. The most common [adverse] effects [AEs] or the most common severe AEs in [this trial] were pneumonia that we saw in 8 of 123 patients, and pulmonary thromboembolism that we saw in 3 patients of the 123. The infection and pulmonary thromboembolism, and cardiovascular events have been linked to the different elements of this combination. We had 3 deaths during treatment—1 was a sudden death on the second week of induction. It’s difficult to say if it was treatment or the disease burden or something completely unrelated. One [death] was 2 months after transplant, before the patient started consolidation and it was also a sudden death. Finally, 1 patient [died from] pneumonia 6 months after transplant. Each one of those [deaths], is in itself a tragedy, but it’s difficult to do attribution and even to say it is higher than expected, given the non-randomized nature of this study.

Reference

Costa LJ, Chhabra S, Medvedova E, et al. Daratumumab, carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Dara-KRd), autologous transplantation and MRD response-adapted treatment duration and cessation in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). Paper presented at: 18th International Myeloma Workshop; September 8-11, 2021; Vienna, Austria. Accessed September 11, 2021.