summary
Elotuzumab is a humanized antibody directed against signaling lymphocytic activation F7 (SLAMF7), a molecule that is selectively expressed on myeloma and natural killer (NK) cells but not on normal tissues. As a result, elotuzumab has a twofold mechanism: it enhances NK-cell activation directly via SLAMF7 and indirectly via CD16, and it induces targeted killing of SLAMF7-positive myeloma cells by antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. In theory, these two effects collectively enable killing of myeloma cells without collateral damage to normal cells.1–3 In an open-label, phase 1b/2 study, the combination of elotuzumab with len-dex resulted in high response rates and promising PFS findings. This formed the basis for the open-label, international, randomized, multicenter, phase III ELOQUENT-2 study, randomizing 646 patients with relapsed-refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who received 1–3 prior treatment lines to elotuzumab plus len-dex, or len-dex alone. The co-primary endpoints of the study were PFS and overall response rate (ORR), while OS, duration of response, quality of life and safety were secondary objectives.4,5 The PFS and response data of this study were presented during the plenary session of the 2015 annual meeting of the European Hematology Association (EHA).
(BELG J HEMATOL 2015;6(3):114–5)
