Future Oncology, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Plain Language Summary: What is this summary about? This is a summary of a publication about the ICARIA clinical trial that was published in Haematologica in February 2024. The trial tested if a combination of cancer drugs (isatuximab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone, or Isa-Pd for short)would help people with relapsed (when the cancer has returned while on active treatment or not) or primary refractory (when the cancer has not responded to treatment) multiple myeloma live longer compared with solely a combination of pomalidomide and dexamethasone (or Pd for short). The ICARIA trial included participants who had been treated for their multiple myeloma before with other cancer drugs. How was the study in this summary conducted? This study included a total of 307 participants; 154 received Isa-Pd and 153 received Pd. The researchers measured overall survival, which is the total amount of time people lived during the study, disregarding whether dying from the cancer or from other causes. The researchers also measured progression-free survival, or the average length of time it took between the participants joining the study and their cancer getting worse or them dying. The researchers measured how long it took for a patient to need a new treatment for their multiple myeloma. The researchers also monitored for adverse events in all participants that received at least one treatment. What are the key takeaways? Several findings from this study are reported in this publication. On average,people who received Isa-Pd lived nearly 7 months longer than people who received Pd. Of people who received Isa-Pd, 63% had a smaller amount of cancer than when they started treatment. People who received Isa-Pd also had a longer time before their cancer got worse and they needed further treatment for their multiple myeloma.Adverse events were similar to previous studies of Isa-Pd. What are the key takeaways? In the ICARIA study, people with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who received Isa-Pd continued to benefit from therapy after more than 4 years of monitoring, as they lived longer and it took longer for their cancer to get worse compared with people who received Pd. After monitoring these people for over 4 years, Isa-Pd did not show any new safety concerns than previous analyses. This is an abstract of the Plain Language Summary of Publication article. View the full Plain Language Summary PDF of this article to read the full-text.