First-in-human immune therapy study for multiple myeloma

Developing new immune-oncology therapies for blood-related cancers is the primary research focus of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at Providence Cancer Institute of Oregon. John Godwin, M.D., MS, medical oncologist and program medical director, leads a new phase II clinical trial to evaluate talquetamab, an experimental bispecific immune therapy, as a potential treatment for cancerous plasma cells known as multiple myeloma.

Although multiple myeloma is a relatively uncommon cancer – an estimated 35,000 new cases will be diagnosed in U.S. men and women this year – approximately 50 percent of patients with multiple myeloma do not survive their cancers beyond five years. Better therapies are needed to improve survival outcomes for these patients.

View the study details here:

A Study of Talquetamab in Participants with Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

This global, open-label study will assess the safety and effectiveness of talquetamab in adult patients with multiple myeloma whose cancers have progressed following other treatments (relapsed/refractory). Patients who have received prior immune therapies are eligible.

Talquetamamb is a first-in-class therapy, and the only experimental therapy to engage novel molecular targets for multiple myeloma and the immune system simultaneously. These  bispecific targets are:

• GPRC5D (G protein-coupled receptor family C group 5-member D) – a molecular compound prevalent on the surface of multiple myeloma cells which may have anticancer activity
• CD3 – a protein prevalent on the surface of cancer-killing immune cells known as cytotoxic T cells

By engaging and binding to both targets, talquetamab may redirect a patient’s T cells to attack and eliminate the cancer cells.

Preliminary results from the phase I portion of the study demonstrated a high clinical response rate among patients who received the recommended phase II dose, warranting further study of talquetamab as a potential monotherapy for multiple myeloma or in combination with other cancer therapies. 

For more information or to refer patients to this study, please call our Clinical Research office at 503-215-2614 or submit a referral form.

More hematologic studies

More than 20 clinical trials are open at Providence Cancer Institute of Oregon for patients with hematologic cancers. See all hematology studies.

New research studies are added frequently. Please contact us at 503-215-2614 or visit our website to see all cancer studies.

Providence Hematologic Malignancies Program

Our team of physicians are experts in hematologic malignancies including Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, leukemia, myeloma, and the myelodysplastic syndromes. Our Hematology Care Clinics use multi-disciplinary care to ensure a high quality, patient-focused experience. We provide cutting-edge clinical and translational research trials, and immune-oncology therapies to utilize the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Many of our clinical trials are first-in-human studies of new immune therapies aimed at maximizing the potential of the immune system to destroy tumors. To learn more, visit our website.