Earlier this month, a group of researchers led by Dr. Jonathan Kaufman of the MMRC’s Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University published the results of a MMRC phase I study looking at effectiveness and side effects of an HDAC inhibitor-proteosome inhibitor combination. Previous studies involving the HDAC inhibitor panobinostat (Farydak) and a proteasome inhibitor (Velcade) in combination demonstrated good clinical activity, but also a high incidence of serious side effects such as low blood counts and GI discomfort. The current study, known as CarPan, combined CARfilzomib (Kyprolis), a second generation proteasome inhibitor, with PANobinostat (Farydak). 32 heavily pretreated RRMM patients were included in the study. The researchers showed that
- the CarPan combination achieve a better safety profile compared to panobinostat-Velcade
- the CarPan combination demonstrated a superior overall response rate (63% vs 34%) and progression free survival (8 months vs. 5 months) compared to panobinostat-Velcade.
This result is important for a number of reasons:
- the CarPan regimen is effective while also being steroid-sparing, meaning there is no dexamethasone given. This is good news for the many patients who have trouble tolerating Dex.
- the CarPan regimen is equally effective in patients who are Velcade sensitive and Velcade resistant, offering another treatment option to patients who no longer respond to Velcade.
- combining panobinostat (Farydak) with carfilzomib (Kyprolis) greatly decreased the incidence of side effects seen with the Farydak-Velcade combination, meaning more patients will be able to tolerate this very effective combination of HDAC inhibitor plus proteasome inhibitor.
The MMRC is proud to have helped initiate and sponsor this trial along with our pharma partners, to help bring another effective treatment regimen to heavily pre-treated RRMM patients who may have few treatment options.
Read more here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6320362/