Efficacy and Safety of Idecabtagene Vicleucel (ide-cel, bb2121) in Elderly Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma: KarMMa Subgroup Analysis

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) occurs most commonly among the older population, with a median age of 69 years at diagnosis. Advanced age has been shown to negatively affect prognosis and limit treatment options for patients with hematologic malignancies, including MM. Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel, bb2121), a BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy, demonstrated deep and durable responses in the pivotal phase 2 KarMMa study of patients with triple-class exposed relapsed and refractory MM (RRMM; Munshi et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38[suppl, abstr]:8503). The overall response rate (ORR), complete response (CR) rate, median duration of response (DOR), and median progression-free survival (PFS) were 73%, 33%, 10.7 months, and 8.8 months, respectively, among all 128 patients treated across the target dose levels of 150-450 × 10⁶ CAR+ T cells, and 82%, 39%, 11.3 months, and 12.1 months at the highest target dose of 450 × 10⁶ CAR+ T cells. The safety profile of ide-cel was consistent with the mechanism of action of CAR T cell therapies, with the most common toxicities across all dose levels being cytopenia (97%) and cytokine release syndrome (84%). In the present analyses, the efficacy and safety of ide-cel in elderly patients in the KarMMa study were evaluated.

Methods: Patients enrolled in the KarMMa trial (NCT03361748) were required to have ≥3 prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory drug, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 antibody, and were refractory to their last regimen per International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria. Patients received ide-cel at target doses of 150, 300, or 450 × 10⁶ CAR+ T cells after 3 days of lymphodepletion with cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m²/day) and fludarabine (30 mg/m²/day) followed by 2 days of rest. The primary endpoint was ORR, and the key secondary endpoint was CR rate. Additional secondary endpoints included DOR, PFS, and safety. Patients were classified into ≥65 years and ≥70 years subgroups for analysis. Responses were assessed according to IMWG guidelines, and DOR and PFS were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods.

Results: Of the 128 patients treated with ide-cel, 45 (35%) were aged ≥65 years and 20 (16%) were aged ≥70 years. The median age within these age groups was 69 years (range, 65–78) and 73 years (range, 70–78), the median number of prior antimyeloma regimens was 6 and 5, and the median time since initial diagnosis was 6.7 years and 6.1 years, respectively. Baseline characteristics were generally similar between age groups with the exception of tumor burden. Response rates for both age groups were comparable with those of the overall ide-cel treated population, with ORRs of 84% to 90% and CR rates of 31% to 35% (Table). Likewise, median DOR among responders in both age groups (10.9 months in patients aged ≥65 years and 11.0 months in patients aged ≥70 years) was similar to that of the overall ide-cel treated population. Median PFS was 8.6 months (95% CI, 4.9–12.2) in patients aged ≥65 years and 10.2 months (95% CI, 3.1–12.3) in patients aged ≥70 years. At the time of analysis, overall survival data were still immature. No new safety signals were observed in either of the older age groups compared with those in the overall ide-cel treated population (Table).

Conclusions: These results demonstrate deep and durable responses with ide-cel treatment together with a manageable safety profile in triple-class exposed patients with RRMM aged ≥65 years and ≥70 years. Outcomes were comparable with those observed in the overall ide-cel treated population. These data suggest ide-cel is safe and effective in older patients and provide further evidence supporting ide-cel as a promising treatment option in RRMM.