Ocular Adverse Events With Belantamab Mafodotin: Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Multidisciplinary Management

In 'Ocular Adverse Events With Belantamab Mafodotin: Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Multidisciplinary Management,' the expert oncologist and ophthalmologist explored the following questions:

What are the ocular adverse events associated with belantamab mafodotin and what role can optometrists or ophthalmologists play in diagnosing and managing these?

How can multidisciplinary care be optimized in patients experiencing these ocular adverse events and how are treatment changes handled?

How often are you seeing these patients and how long on average does it take to get back to their baseline?

Can you provide a case example of a patient successfully diagnosed and managed for the ocular adverse events?

Anjulie Quick explained that belantamab mafodotin affects corneal epithelial cells in addition to myeloma cells, leading to keratopathy and symptoms including decreased vision, dry eye, and photophobia, and outlined the ophthalmologist's critical role within the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program, which requires baseline eye exams prior to treatment initiation and ongoing examinations before every dose. She and Al-Ola Abdallah emphasized that optimizing multidisciplinary care requires close, real-time communication among oncologists, ophthalmologists, pharmacists, and nurses, with each team member playing a distinct role in grading keratopathy, determining dose modifications, managing symptoms, and educating patients. Dr. Quick noted that patients developing keratopathy are monitored every 2 to 3 weeks until they return to baseline, which takes approximately 85 days on average based on clinical trial data, and shared a real-world case of a 71-year-old male patient who developed asymptomatic keratopathy after two cycles of belantamab mafodotin, required a treatment hold, and returned to baseline vision within approximately 2 months before successfully resuming therapy, illustrating the importance of proactive monitoring and early intervention rather than waiting for symptoms to become clinically apparent.

Throughout the conversation, the experts provided a comprehensive reflection on the field and the factors that may shape how clinicians approach care moving forward.

In the next episode, 'New Data, New Directions: Bispecific Antibody Advances and CAR T-Cell Evidence in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma,' panelists continue their discussion on relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and highlight the most impactful bispecific antibody updates from this year's ASCO and EHA conferences, as well as the clinical evidence supporting CAR T-Cell therapy across lines of therapy in multiple myeloma.