Many Ineligible for Clinical Trial Could Benefit From Teclistamab for Multiple Myeloma

WEDNESDAY, July 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — In a study published online July 9 in Blood Cancer Discovery, real-world outcomes are described for teclistamab, a T-cell-engaging bispecific antibody that targets multiple myeloma (MM) cells via the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) receptor.

Beatrice M. Razzo, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of postapproval, real-world outcomes with teclistamab in the U.S. MM Immunotherapy Consortium.

The researchers found that 89 percent of the 509 patients would have been ineligible for the MajesTEC-1 trial, mainly due to prior BCMA-directed therapy, cytopenias, or diminished performance status. Overall, 54 percent had cytokine release syndrome and 11 percent had immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome with no fatal events. Forty-two percent had infections, which contributed to death in 5 percent. Partial response or better and very good partial response or better were achieved in 53 and 45 percent, respectively. Estimated median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months with a median follow-up of 10.1 months; 12-month overall survival was 61 percent. BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy in the previous nine months, high disease burden, lymphopenia, and elevated ferritin were independent predictors of less than very good partial response and shorter progression-free survival.

“Our results highlight the complex interplay between real-time clinical parameters and baseline disease features in influencing patient outcomes and suggest that the former may be a more reliable indicator of disease biology than the latter in these patients, but there is still a lot to learn,” Razzo said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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