New Clinical Trial Sparks Hope of a Cure for Multiple Myeloma
For a very long time, knowing that you had multiple myeloma felt like bad news that never really ended. Doctors could treat it for a while, and patients would feel better. But the cancer almost always came back. Each time it returned, the treatment worked for a shorter time. Many patients felt stuck in the same cycle again and again. Multiple myeloma is a serious cancer that starts in the bone marrow.
Now, a new clinical trial is changing this story. Instead of just trying to control the disease, doctors are starting to talk about something that was once impossible: a cure.
That Moment When Everything Changed
Dr. Luciano Costa, a cancer doctor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has waited three years to see how patients with an aggressive bone-marrow cancer would react to an experimental immunotherapy treatment. The results gave him goose bumps. The oncologist thought, “Holy Shit”.
The clinical trial found that more than 80 percent of the patients who got the new treatment were still alive and had no cancer almost three years later. Compared with the control group, only about 30 percent of patients on standard treatment achieved the same outcome.
Dr. Costa said the results were so surprising that they gave him goosebumps. He believes we are entering a new time where dying from multiple myeloma may no longer be normal.
The patients in the trial had a cancer called multiple myeloma that had come back after previous treatments. They had remained in remission much longer with approved drugs, said Costa.
How does the New Treatment Work?
This new treatment uses two immune-based drugs together, rather than just one. The drugs are called Tecvayli and Darzalex Faspro. Both were already approved on their own, but using them together makes them much stronger.
- Darzalex works like a bright marker. It sticks to cancer cells so the immune system can spot them.
- Tecvayli works like a connector. It pulls the cancer cells and the body’s T cells (the immune system’s fighters) close together so the T cells can kill the cancer.
A major advantage is that these drugs are given by injection. They do not need complex lab work or special hospitals. This means many local cancer centers could offer this treatment in the future.
Risk Levels: Even with these exciting results, the treatment is very hard on the body. It pushes the immune system to work at full power. Only about 7 of 10 patients had serious side effects, mostly infections. And sadly, about 7% of patients died because of treatment-related problems. For many patients, the risk was still worth it.
For some patients in the clinical trial, the results have been life-changing. Sally Herring, age 69, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2017. She has watched her friends with the same disease die painful deaths. She said, “It was crushing, absolutely crushing”. Herring mentioned, “Knowing that eventually I was probably going to be in a train wreck and there wasn’t anything I could do about it”.
But in 2022, she decided to join the trial, and today, her blood tests show no sign of cancer. She still needs monthly injections and often gets sinus infections. But the fear that once ruled her life is gone. For her, the cancer that felt like a monster has finally backed away.
Doctors are now trying to find the right balance. They want the treatment to be strong enough to kill the cancer but not so strong that it overwhelms the patient’s body.
Experts say treating multiple myeloma is no longer about using the most aggressive approach possible. It is more like carefully guiding a team so everything works together.
For the first time, people with multiple myeloma are hearing that the word “cure” is no longer just hope. It is becoming a real goal.
