Tocilizumab prophylaxis for patients with multiple myeloma treated with bispecific antibodies

Abstract

Bispecific antibodies for treatment for multiple myeloma are highly effective but commonly cause cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Emerging data indicate that prophylactic tocilizumab may reduce CRS, without impacting efficacy. We administered a single dose of tocilizumab before the first dose of bispecific antibodies to 119 patients to determine the impact on CRS in a real-world setting including B-cell maturation antigen × CD3- and G-protein-coupled receptor class C group 5 member D × CD3-targeted antibodies. The best overall response rate was 65.7% (binomial 95% confidence interval [CI], 55.8-74.7). We observed a low overall rate of CRS (10.1%; 95% CI, 5.3-17). For teclistamab, elranatamab, linvoseltamab, and talquetamab individually, the CRS rate was 8.9%, 12.5%, 0%, and 13%, respectively. The overall rate of ICANS (5.9%; 95% CI, 2.4-11.7) was low but similar to rates without prophylactic tocilizumab. CRS was limited to grade 1 for 10 of 12 events. There were no grade 3 CRS events, and no additional doses of tocilizumab or corticosteroids were given for CRS. Our real-world evidence results suggest that tocilizumab may be effective as a preventive, rather than reactive, measure to prevent CRS without compromising efficacy.