Maintenance therapy for cytogenetically high-risk multiple myeloma: landscape in the era of novel drugs

Although the significant strides in novel therapeutic approaches have prolonged the survival of multiple myeloma (MM) patients, the unfavorable prognosis of cytogenetically high-risk newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) remains intractable with the lack of consensus regarding the choice of maintenance regimens. Therefore, this study was initiated with the aim of examining the effectiveness of various maintenance treatments for this group of patients in jeopardy. Overall, 17 studies with 1937 high-risk NDMM patients were included in the network meta-analysis. Combination therapies involving novel drugs presented encouraging prospects in the maintenance phase, while the patients and circumstances for the application of different regimens still needed to be further distinguished and clarified. To investigate the current status of maintenance therapy of high-risk NDMM patients in clinical practice, a real-world cohort of high-risk NDMM was retrospectively incorporated 80 patients with lenalidomide maintenance and 53 patients with bortezomib maintenance, presenting the median PFS of 31.7 months and 30.4 months, respectively (p = 0.874, HR = 0.966, 95% CI: 0.628-1.486). Collectively, this study illuminated the present constraints of conventional approaches during the maintenance phase for high-risk NDMM patients while highlighting the future potential associated with enhanced regimens integrating novel medications.