A cancer diagnosis can be life-changing and patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma often face added uncertainty, as the disease’s progression can be unpredictable.
Despite being the second most common type of blood cancer in Europe, with over 35,000 diagnoses in 2022, multiple myeloma is less well known. In Ireland, approximately 380 people are diagnosed annually.
On a positive note, survival outcomes and quality of life for patients are improving. Irish data shows the five-year net survival of patients diagnosed during 2014-2018 averaged 65 per cent, increasing by 37 per cent since 1994-1998, which was the highest increase in survival compared to other cancers and demonstrates how innovative medicine can transform patient outcomes. With newer therapies and greater knowledge of disease mechanisms, some multiple myeloma patients are reaching longer periods of remission.
While this era of innovation facilitates more personalisation in clinical decision-making, there is no room for complacency. Treatment may result in remission, but many patients relapse. With each line of therapy, relapses repeatedly recur and remissions shorten, so patients may have poorer prognoses and fewer treatment options.
To extend and improve patients’ lives, new therapies using unique targets are needed. At Janssen, we continue to strive for better and focus on one key question: what’s next?
Innovating to make a difference in treatment
Building on our heritage in multiple myeloma, Janssen is committed to pioneering therapeutic advances. Emerging therapies and regimens are improving patient outcomes in first-line treatment and providing clinicians with the flexibility to customise treatment according to patient needs.
The days of addressing blood cancer ‘one therapy at a time’ are fading fast; the development of immunotherapies (which attack cancer cells with the immune system) can potentially expand treatment options for patients regardless of age or disease status.
Innovative technology has also improved the management of multiple myeloma, including treatment delivery. New treatments have become available which enhance patients’ quality of life; reducing time spent in healthcare settings and allowing patients to spend time on what’s important to them.
Working towards cure
With the right medicines administered early, combined and sequenced appropriately, treating to cure is the ambition. Collaboration with clinicians, researchers and patients is central to this, helping to anticipate and address the needs of the multiple myeloma community.
Our commitment to innovative research in Ireland is evident in the CARTITUDE-5 trial, the first-ever clinical study in Ireland of CAR-T cell therapy for treating multiple myeloma at St James’s Hospital Dublin, supported by Janssen. CAR T-cell therapy expands the power of antibody medicines to simultaneously target two surface antigens, activating the patient’s own T-cells to kill tumour cells. This trial seeks to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CAR-T as a frontline therapy in newly diagnosed patients.
In recent years, Janssen Sciences Ireland has supported numerous Investigator Initiated Studies, including preclinical and clinical research, led by Irish physicians, to advance scientific knowledge and investigate novel treatment options for multiple myeloma.
Ongoing research and innovation efforts will enable blood cancer patients to live longer and healthier lives. More patients are in remission for many years, with meaningful improvements made to their quality of life compared to conventional therapeutic approaches. If progress in this area is maintained and accelerated, there is hope that many more patients can reach that milestone – and surpass it – in the future.
Contact your doctor if you are concerned about multiple myeloma. For further information, visit multiplemyelomaireland.org.
References available upon request.
