Role of Venetoclax in the Treatment of Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Hamid Ehsan; Ahsan Wahab; Zunairah Shah; Muhammad Khawar Sana; Adeel Masood; Abdul Rafae; Hamza Hashmi

doi:10.14740/jh844

Role of Venetoclax in the Treatment of Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma

J Hematol. 2021 Jun;10(3):89-97. doi: 10.14740/jh844. Epub 2021 Jun 16.

Authors

Hamid Ehsan¹, Ahsan Wahab², Zunairah Shah³, Muhammad Khawar Sana⁴, Adeel Masood², Abdul Rafae⁵, Hamza Hashmi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
² University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
³ Weiss Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, McLaren Flint-Michigan State University, MI, USA.
⁶ Division of Hematology Oncology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.

PMID: 34267845
PMCID: PMC8256917
DOI: 10.14740/jh844

Abstract

Biomarker-driven targeted therapies have been an area of exploration for innovative therapeutic options in oncology. B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) protein is an anti-apoptotic protein expressed on the clonal plasma cells in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). MM subsets with t (11;14) have overexpression of BCL-2 and can benefit from venetoclax (VEN) when used either alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents with an overall response rate (ORR) ranging from 40% to 100%. The most commonly reported grade ≥ 3 adverse effects include cytopenias and gastrointestinal side effects. This review highlights the meaningful efficacy and tolerable safety of VEN monotherapy and its combination regimens in the treatment of relapsed refractory MM.

Keywords: Multiple myeloma; Refractory; Relapsed; Venetoclax.

Publication types

Review