Groundbreaking treatment from Perth Blood Institute ‘significantly’ delays progression of deadly blood cancer

A groundbreaking immunotherapy treatment has been proven to “significantly” delay the progression of a deadly blood cancer, a new Perth research study has found. In 2017, the Perth Blood Institute launched an international clinical trial in a bid to delay the advancement of smoldering multiple myeloma; an asymptomatic plasma cell disorder which often develops into multiple myeloma. Now, seven years later, the medication has been proven to give patients a “longer, better quality of life”. PBI director Professor Ross Baker said patients with SMM were injected with daratumumab — an antibody used to treat multiple myeloma — over several months. “Often the standard of care for SMM is just watching and monitoring over the years ... so it really does create a lot of uncertainty for the person and really affects their lives,” he told The West Australian. “Daratumumab. . . very cleverly targets the immune system to attack the myeloma to control the disease.” Sharon Hindle was diagnosed with smouldering multiple myeloma in 2017 after visiting her local GP for a routine checkup. The Kalamunda mother said the disease was picked up “by chance”. “I was having a bit of a midlife crisis and I was like, they’re probably going to tell me off for my blood pressure and tell me to lose weight,” she said. “I was at risk of potentially having arthritis because of family history. . . so when the GP did some blood tests, she said ‘it’s probably time to see a rheumatologist in case you do end up with arthritis and it needs to be managed’.” From there, her rheumatologist found an “abnormality” and referred her to a haematologist. Ms Hindle started the PBI trial in January 2018 in hopes it would “help me and help others”. “My initial thought was that the trial could help me, and even if it doesn’t, it will hopefully help others. . . if you don’t have research and do these trials, how do you ever find out,” she said. “The benefit was also knowing that I was going to be having regular blood tests, so it gave me peace of mind. . . knowing that if my condition worsened or developed, it would get picked up a lot quicker than just sitting at home.” Professor Baker said only 33 per cent of patients using daratumumab developed multiple myeloma; a huge feat compared to 50 per cent of patients who didn’t use the medication. Just this month, the results of the study were presented at a meeting with the American Society of Haematology and published in the New England Journey of Medicine. Now, Professor Baker says he wants approval from the Therapeutic Goods Association to implement the medication into clinics and practices. “We have a very convincing answer; early therapy with daratumumab significantly slows the progression of SMM, giving people a longer quality of life,” he said. “It’s fantastic to see Perth really contributing to world knowledge and making an impact so more people can access this treatment.”