Norwalk, Conn., March 18, 2015 – The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced today that data from the fifth interim analysis of the CoMMpass Study™ is now available to researchers and clinicians on the MMRF’s Researcher Gateway. This new information includes complete genomic sequencing data from 190 patients and clinical data from 420 patients enrolled in CoMMpass.
CoMMpass is a unique longitudinal, clinical-molecular study of 1,000 patients with newly-diagnosed active multiple myeloma. The purpose is to advance the understanding of the molecular basis of the disease, as well as patient response to myeloma therapies, and use this critical information to develop personalized treatments that target the underlying disease biology.
“The MMRF is committed to the open exchange of data and analysis resulting from our genomics research on an ongoing basis,” said Daniel Auclair, Ph.D., Vice President, Translational Research of the MMRF. “We believe that providing researchers and clinicians worldwide unhindered access to data is critical to our goal to accelerate discovery of individualized treatment approaches that will help extend the lives of patients.”
An analysis of the genomics data released today was presented in December 2014 at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco. The complete sequencing data from this interim analysis identified new genomic changes, including many that may be associated with disease onset. Complex genomic changes, called rearrangements, were identified that result in aberrant expression of genes in signaling pathways that are believed to be important for disease initiation and progression, such as the NF-kappaB, BCL2/apoptotic and the mitogen-activated kinase pathways.
The analysis also included the first comparisons of molecular changes occurring between the baseline samples from patients obtained at first diagnosis of myeloma and bone marrow samples obtained at disease progression from the same patients. This type of analysis provides an initial glimpse at potentially new mechanisms of anti-myeloma drug resistance, highlighting again the power of this study. The full presentation delivered at ASH has also been made available on the MMRF’s Researcher Gateway.
About the CoMMpass Study™
CoMMpass is a longitudinal study of patients with newly-diagnosed active multiple myeloma. The goal is to map the genomic profile of each patient to clinical outcomes to develop a more complete understanding of patient responses to treatments. A cornerstone of the MMRF’s Personalized Medicine Initiative, the study will collect and analyze tissue samples, clinical data and genetic information from approximately 1,000 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients for at least eight years.
The study is designed to show what treatments are used most often as first and subsequent lines of therapy, and to correlate this information with critical therapeutic response criteria including best responses achieved, overall survival, time to disease progression and quality of life measures. Each patient enrolled in the study is required to receive an approved proteasome inhibitor, immunumodulatory drug or both.
CoMMpass opened in July of 2011 and now includes 847 patients from 108 sites in the United States, Canada and European Union. Data from the CoMMpass Study is made available to researchers via the MMRF’s Researcher Gateway, an online, open-access portal designed to make key genomic and clinical data available for additional study.
About the MMRF Researcher Gateway
The MMRF Researcher Gateway is an information ecosystem accessible to scientists, intended to drive discoveries in multiple myeloma. A first-in-class, it uploads and provides access to genomic and other information from the landmark CoMMpass Study as it becomes available. To register for access to the Gateway, visit www.research.themmrf.org.
About Multiple Myeloma (MM)
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of the plasma cell. It is the second most common blood cancer. An estimated 26,850 adults (14,000 men and 12,760 women) in the United States will be diagnosed with MM in 2015 and an estimated 11,240 people are predicted to die from the disease. The five-year survival rate for MM is approximately 45%, versus 28% in 1998.
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) was established in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by twin sisters Karen Andrews and Kathy Giusti, soon after Kathy’s diagnosis with multiple myeloma. The mission of the MMRF is to relentlessly pursue innovative means that accelerate the development of next-generation multiple myeloma treatments to extend the lives of patients and lead to a cure. As the world’s number-one private funder of multiple myeloma research, the MMRF has raised $275 million since its inception and directs nearly 90% of total budget to research and related programming.
