Now Enrolling: The EAA241 research study is exploring a new treatment approach for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma and kidney failure

Myeloma is a blood cancer that develops in a specific kind of white blood cell of the bone marrow (the soft tissue at the center of bones). Normally, these cells—known as plasma cells—play an important role in the immune system by making antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that protect the body against infections. Myeloma causes the bone marrow to create antibodies and plasma cells that do not work properly, disrupting the body’s ability to fight off infections. Myeloma is also called multiple myeloma.

Unfortunately, many patients with myeloma develop kidney (renal) failure during the course of their disease. This life-threatening complication is caused mainly by the toxic effects of a certain type of antibody, known as a monoclonal light chain. While light chains are a normal part of the immune system, cancerous plasma cells produce too many of them. These extra light chains form clusters and clog the kidneys, leading to sudden loss of kidney function. Fortunately, kidney failure can be treated and reversed—and doing so quickly may be key to improving these patients’ survival.

Researchers with the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) have opened the EAA241 clinical trial to explore a new approach for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma and kidney failure. They believe that adding a targeted drug into timely myeloma treatment may help reverse kidney failure. The drug, called daratumumab (DAYR-uh-TOOM-yoo-mab), is an immunotherapy—a treatment that uses the patient’s own immune system to target cancer cells and eliminate them.

Patients who enroll in EAA241 will be randomly assigned by a computer to receive one of two treatment combinations. The control group will receive the usual combination containing chemotherapy, a targeted therapy called bortezomib (bor-TEH-zoh-mib), and a steroid medication that helps to reduce inflammation and alleviate painful symptoms.

The second group will receive a treatment combination containing daratumumab, bortezomib, and the steroid. In 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a treatment combination using daratumumab for multiple myeloma patients who are eligible for a stem cell transplant. Researchers want to find out if it will help myeloma patients with kidney failure recover kidney function, which may then allow myeloma treatment to be more effective.

Patients in both groups will take their assigned treatment for four cycles (28 days per cycle) and then undergo evaluation for further treatment.

This study is led by Amany Keruakous, MD, of Augusta University and the Georgia Cancer Center.

Learn more about EAA241 at ecog-acrin.org.