Bendamustine, Lenalidomide (Revlimid®) and Dexamethasone (BRd) as 2nd-line Therapy for Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Summary

Almost all patients with multiple myeloma who survive initial treatment will eventually relapse and require further therapy. Background: Treatment with lenalidomide and dexamethasone has proven efficacy in two large randomized trials (MM-009 and MM-010) leading to a time to progression (TTP) of 17.1 months for patients with only one prior therapy and a TTP of 10.6 months for 2 and more prior therapies, respectively \[1-3\]. Continuous treatment with lenalidomide and dexamethasone until disease progression is therefore considered a standard therapy for second line treatment in multiple myeloma patients. However, only a relatively low rate of high quality response (CR, complete response and VGPR, very good partial response) is achieved. High quality responses are associated with with improved progression-free survival and overall survival \[4\]. Trial: The aim of this trial is to improve high quality response rates for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in the 2nd line treatment. This aim shall be achieved by the addition a third anti-myeloma drug (bendamustine) to the established backbone of lenalidomide/ dexamethasone. Treatment regimen: * Induction Treatment Phase: Cycles 1-6 Bendamustine 75mg/m2/d day 1 and 2, lenalidomide 25mg/d 1-21, dexamethasone 40mg / 20mg (for patients \> 75years) d 1, 8, 15, 22. * Maintenance Treatment Phase: Cycles 7-18 lenalidomide 25mg/d 1-21, dexamethasone 40mg / 20mg (for patients \> 75 years) d 1, 8, 15, 22. Due to hematoxicity of bendamustine and lenalidomide, administration of pegfilgrastim is mandatory in the induction treatment phase (BRd-regimen)for all patients experiencing severe neutropenia. The aim of this study is to achieve high quality response rates (CR, VGPR) of ≥ 40%. If this aim is achieved, the treatment of bendamustine in combination with the established lenalidomide/ dexamethasone regimen will be considered promising. Besides efficacy, the safety of this three-drug regimen is evaluated in this trial.

Timeline

Start

2012-03

Primary completion

2016-02

Completion

2016-02

Publications

• Background Weber DM, Chen C, Niesvizky R, Wang M, Belch A, Stadtmauer EA, Siegel D, Borrello I, Rajkumar SV, Chanan-Khan AA, Lonial S, Yu Z, Patin J, Olesnyckyj M, Zeldis JB, Knight RD; Multiple Myeloma (009) Study Investigators. Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone for relapsed multiple myeloma in North America. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 22;357(21):2133-42. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa070596.
• Background Dimopoulos M, Spencer A, Attal M, Prince HM, Harousseau JL, Dmoszynska A, San Miguel J, Hellmann A, Facon T, Foa R, Corso A, Masliak Z, Olesnyckyj M, Yu Z, Patin J, Zeldis JB, Knight RD; Multiple Myeloma (010) Study Investigators. Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 22;357(21):2123-32. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa070594.
• Background Dimopoulos MA, Chen C, Spencer A, Niesvizky R, Attal M, Stadtmauer EA, Petrucci MT, Yu Z, Olesnyckyj M, Zeldis JB, Knight RD, Weber DM. Long-term follow-up on overall survival from the MM-009 and MM-010 phase III trials of lenalidomide plus dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Leukemia. 2009 Nov;23(11):2147-52. doi: 10.1038/leu.2009.147. Epub 2009 Jul 23.
• Background Harousseau JL, Attal M, Avet-Loiseau H. The role of complete response in multiple myeloma. Blood. 2009 Oct 8;114(15):3139-46. doi: 10.1182/blood-2009-03-201053. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
• Background Lentzsch S, O'Sullivan A, Kennedy RC, Abbas M, Dai L, Pregja SL, Burt S, Boyiadzis M, Roodman GD, Mapara MY, Agha M, Waas J, Shuai Y, Normolle D, Zonder JA. Combination of bendamustine, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (BLD) in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma is feasible and highly effective: results of phase 1/2 open-label, dose escalation study. Blood. 2012 May 17;119(20):4608-13. doi: 10.1182/blood-2011-12-395715. Epub 2012 Mar 26.
• Background Pönisch W, Heyn S, Wagner I, et al. Combined Bendamustine, Prednisolone and Lenalidomide (RBP) In Refractory or Relapsed Multiple Myeloma. First Results of a Phase I Clinical Trial. Blood, Nov 2010; 116: 1971

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