Multiple myeloma remedy options explored
Multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, remains a challenging condition to treat, but recent advancements in 2025 have brought forth promising new therapies that offer improved outcomes and manageable side effects.
Multiple myeloma is characterized by an accumulation of abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow, leading to bone destruction, anemia, kidney failure, or high calcium levels. Despite there being no cure, remission can occur. According to the National Cancer Institute's SEER program, the overall 5-year survival rate for myeloma from 2012-2018 was not specified.
Traditional treatments for multiple myeloma include chemotherapy, monoclonal antibodies, proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, and bone-modifying agents. Chemotherapy may involve drugs like etoposide, liposomal doxorubicin, and bendamustine. Monoclonal antibodies, such as daratumumab, isatuximab, and elotuzumab, attack specific proteins on the surface of myeloma cells, while proteasome inhibitors like bortezomib, carfilzomib, and ixazomib target the proteasome, a complex of proteins responsible for breaking down proteins in cells. Immunomodulating agents, such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide, help regulate the immune system to combat myeloma cells.
In the case of relapsed multiple myeloma, doctors may recommend a stem cell transplant following chemotherapy. During this procedure, a healthcare professional removes immature blood cells from the patient, freezes and stores them, and after chemotherapy, they are thawed and given back to the patient through an infusion.
The latest treatment options for relapsed multiple myeloma in 2025 include several newly approved therapies and advanced investigational agents that improve outcomes and offer distinct mechanisms of action.
Linvoseltamab, a bispecific antibody recently approved for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, targets new antigens to improve response rates and depth of remission. Belantamab mafodotin, approved in Canada and the EU for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, is used in combination with bortezomib/dexamethasone or pomalidomide/dexamethasone and offers outpatient-friendly administration without hospitalization. CAR T-cell therapies, increasingly recognized as the most effective option for relapsed multiple myeloma, provide deep remissions through personalized cellular immunotherapy. FcRH5-targeting bispecific antibodies, such as cevostamab, and CELMoDs (cereblon E3 ligase modulators) like iberdomide and mezigdomide, are new classes of immunomodulatory drugs currently in clinical trials showing potential benefits.
Common side effects associated with these latest treatments include corneal toxicity, fatigue, thrombocytopenia, infusion reactions for Belantamab mafodotin; cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, cytopenias, and infection risk for bispecific antibodies and CAR T-cell therapies; and neutropenia, anemia, fatigue, and gastrointestinal symptoms for CELMoDs.
Modern regimens combining these novel agents with existing ones (proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, corticosteroids) are achieving deeper, longer remissions with progressively manageable toxicity profiles. Treatment choice increasingly depends on patient prior therapies, genetics, comorbidities, and access to specialized care.
For patients and clinicians facing relapse, these emerging therapies represent transformative advances that extend progression-free survival, improve quality of life, and offer hope toward a functional cure in the future.
In addition to these treatments, supportive medicines like bone-modifying agents (denosumab, pamidronate, zoledronic acid) help slow bone loss, prevent bone fractures, and reduce bone pain. Radiation therapy may also be used to treat myeloma bone damage that has not responded to chemotherapy, although it may cause side effects like fatigue, nausea, skin changes, diarrhea, and low blood counts. Some people with multiple myeloma have no symptoms at all.
CAR T cell therapy and corticosteroids play crucial roles in treating multiple myeloma, helping the immune system locate and attack cancer cells and regulating the immune system, respectively.
References:
- American Cancer Society. (2021). Multiple Myeloma: Introduction. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/multiple-myeloma/about/what-is-multiple-myeloma.html
- National Cancer Institute. (2021). Linvosertamab. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/drugs/linvosertamab
- American Society of Clinical Oncology. (2021). Multiple Myeloma: Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/multiple-myeloma/treatment
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network. (2021). NCCN Guidelines®: Multiple Myeloma. Retrieved from https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/myeloma.pdf
- Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. (2021). Latest Treatment Options for Relapsed Multiple Myeloma. Retrieved from https://www.themmrf.org/resources/latest-treatment-options-for-relapsed-multiple-myeloma/
- The latest treatments for relapsed multiple myeloma in 2025 include the bispecific antibody, Linvoseltamab, which targets new antigens to improve response rates and depth of remission.
- Belantamab mafodotin, approved for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in Canada and the EU, offers outpatient-friendly administration without hospitalization and is used in combination with bortezomib/dexamethasone or pomalidomide/dexamethasone.
- CAR T-cell therapies, increasingly recognized as the most effective option for relapsed multiple myeloma, provide deep remissions through personalized cellular immunotherapy and play a crucial role in treating the condition.
- In addition to these treatments, supportive medicines like bone-modifying agents help slow bone loss, prevent bone fractures, and reduce bone pain, contributing to overall health-and-wellness in patients with multiple myeloma.
