Is there any evidence that Empliciti (elotuzumab) will work if combined with just dexamethasone and nothing else? No Revlimid. No Velcade. Just Empliciti and dexamethasone (or perhaps Empliciti and prednisone).
I had asked my oncologist in June if I could have a "chemo holiday" during the summer because the Kyprolis was causing me so many bad side effects. He said he would not because it would probably cause more harm than good, and that Empliciti is meant to be used with a chemical agent, in my case Kyprolis. However, he said he would try a replacement chemo and stop Kyprolis. He also said there was not much if any data where just Empliciti was used by itself with dex to have a medical basis to do just the Empliciti because it is such a new treatment.
As luck would have it, I got a staph infection in my foot that took me off of all cancer treatment for almost 2 months. During this time, my myeloma numbers and M-spike went down to 0.002. My doctor was surprised, expecting for sure the opposite would have happened. As a result, he wants to resume my treatment using the Empliciti without using any type of chemical to see if the cancer can be controlled using just Empliciti and dexamethasone.
I have no problem being the only patient he has tried this with if it means getting off of the chemo part of my treatment. Mind you, I have had to change the chemo part of my treatment 3 times over the past year due to such bad reactions to the previous chemicals used – Revlimid, Ninlaro, and now Kyprolis.
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Re: Empliciti with dexamethasone (and nothing else)
Hi Sunriseinn,
You may want to read this article. To my knowledge, elotuzumab (Empliciti) has not demonstrated significant single-agent activity in treating multiple myeloma. However, daratumumab (Darzalex) has shown promise in this regard.
Yee, AJ, and Raje, N, "Monoclonal Antibodies in the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma with a Focus on Elotuzumab and Daratumumab," The Hematologist, Nov - Dec 2015 (full text of article)
Technically, I guess you can say that adding dex to Empliciti would not make that a single-agent regimen. But I tend to think of a single-agent monoclonal antibody regimen being in the absence of another novel agent such as Kyprolis or Revlimid.
You may want to read this article. To my knowledge, elotuzumab (Empliciti) has not demonstrated significant single-agent activity in treating multiple myeloma. However, daratumumab (Darzalex) has shown promise in this regard.
Yee, AJ, and Raje, N, "Monoclonal Antibodies in the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma with a Focus on Elotuzumab and Daratumumab," The Hematologist, Nov - Dec 2015 (full text of article)
Technically, I guess you can say that adding dex to Empliciti would not make that a single-agent regimen. But I tend to think of a single-agent monoclonal antibody regimen being in the absence of another novel agent such as Kyprolis or Revlimid.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Empliciti with dexamethasone (and nothing else)
I am being treated with Empliciti and dexamethasone only for over a year now, and I've remained in very good partial remission during that time. I started off with a combination of cyclophosphamide, Revlimid, and Ninlaro (ixazomib) at alternating times, but each gave me bad side effects, so my doctor tried just using Empliciti with dexamethasone.
In any case, I'm still wondering how common the combination is and what sort of efficacy and side effects it typically has. For example, how long are remissions typically with the combination?
In any case, I'm still wondering how common the combination is and what sort of efficacy and side effects it typically has. For example, how long are remissions typically with the combination?
Re: Empliciti with dexamethasone (and nothing else)
Hi sunriseinn,
It's great to hear that your response to treatment has stayed steady while on Empliciti and dex.
Did your response deepen when you went on to Empliciti and dex from whatever you were on before? For instance, did you go from a partial response to a very good partial response? Or is it more the case that the Empliciti treatment has just kept your response steady at where it already was?
It's great to hear that your response to treatment has stayed steady while on Empliciti and dex.
Did your response deepen when you went on to Empliciti and dex from whatever you were on before? For instance, did you go from a partial response to a very good partial response? Or is it more the case that the Empliciti treatment has just kept your response steady at where it already was?
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