Videos

4 experts are featured in this series

Zahra Mahmoudjafari outlined best practices for pharmacist-led patient education across all three BCMA-directed therapy classes, emphasizing the importance of tailored, proactive counseling that accounts for the unique toxicity profiles of each agent, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity risk with CAR T-Cell therapies and bispecific antibodies, ocular symptoms such as blurred vision and dry eye with belantamab mafodotin, and infection risk across all modalities, while also stressing the critical role of care partners in recognizing and escalating adverse events early.

4 experts are featured in this series

Al-Ola Abdallah outlined the key adverse events associated with bispecific antibodies, noting that while CRS occurs in over 70% of patients, the majority of cases are grade 1 or 2 and therefore manageable in outpatient settings with appropriate infrastructure, while ICANS is less commonly observed at severe grades compared with CAR T-Cell therapy.

4 experts are featured in this series

Zahra Mahmoudjafari explained that REMS programs are a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mechanism designed to ensure that the safety risks associated with specific therapies are clearly communicated to prescribers, healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and patients, noting that each REMS program is unique and that BCMA-directed therapies currently carry REMS requirements for bispecific antibodies due to cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity risks, and for belantamab mafodotin due to ocular toxicity, while the REMS programs previously required for CAR T-Cell therapies were recently removed.

4 experts are featured in this series

Zahra Mahmoudjafari noted that while patients with high disease burden, a history of severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or neurotoxicity, poor performance status, or limited caregiver support were historically considered less suitable for community-based administration, significant progress has been made as community centers develop strong patient selection criteria, outpatient roadmaps, and escalation strategies, often in partnership with academic centers for initial step-up dosing.

4 experts are featured in this series

Zahra Mahmoudjafari emphasized that treatment sequencing in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) must be highly individualized, taking into account prior BCMA exposure, disease burden, caregiver support, logistical factors, comorbidities, and institutional access to specific therapies such as CAR T-cell therapy, noting that while a standardized algorithm would be ideal, the complexity of the disease and evolving evidence base make a one-size-fits-all approach impractical.