touchEXPERT OPINIONS Managing adverse events associated with BCMA-targeting agents in multiple myeloma: The role of the multidisciplinary team

In this interview, Miss Simona Degli Esposti answers the following questions:

• What ocular toxicities have been observed with belantamab mafodotin?
• How should a patient receiving belantamab mafodotin be monitored for possible ocular adverse events?
• How is the severity of ocular events graded?
• How can ocular events be managed in patients with multiple myeloma treated with belantamab mafodotin?
• How can eye care professionals work with the wider patient care team to provide the best care possible?

Simona Degli Esposti is a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK.

Miss Degli Esposti completed medical school and ophthalmology training at the University of Bologna in Italy, where she graduated summa cum laude. She then completed a fellowship in medical retina and clinical trials at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

She has been working in the Clinical Research Facility at Moorfields Eye Hospital for several years, where she is involved in a number of clinical trials ranging from phase I to phase IV.

Miss Simona Degli Esposti discloses: Consulting fees and honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline. Speaker’s fees from Novartis.

In this interview, Prof. Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha answers the following questions:

• What are the possible adverse events of BCMA-targeting CAR T-cell therapies?
• How can adverse events be monitored in patients with multiple myeloma treated with CAR T-cell therapy, and where is MDT involvement important?
• How can adverse events be managed should they arise?
• How can haematologists work with the wider patient care team to provide the best care possible?

Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha is Professor of Hematology at Lille University and currently holds the position of Coordinating Professor for the Department of Hematology at Lille Faculty of Medicine. He has served as Head of the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Unit at Lille University Hospital since 2008.

Prof. Yakoub-Agha is the current Chair of the Chronic Malignancies Working Party (CMWP) of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and was President of the Francophone Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (SFGM-TC) from 2012 to 2016. read more

Prof. Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha discloses: Honoraria from Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Gilead, Janssen, Kite and Novartis.

In this interview, Dr Paula Rodríguez-Otero answers the following questions:

• In the context of BCMA-targeting agents, which aspects of patient care may benefit from an MDT approach?
• Which healthcare professionals may need to be involved in the MDT for a patient treated with a BCMA-targeting agent, and why?
• How can the MDT support a patient being treated with belantamab mafodotin?
• How can an MDT support a patient being treated with BCMA-targeted CAR T-cell therapy?
• What are key considerations to ensure the MDT works well together?

Paula Rodríguez-Otero studied medicine at the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. She subsequently completed her residency training programme in haematology at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra and then became a member of the faculty.

After completing her PhD, she focused her clinical interests on the management and biology of allogeneic stem cell transplant, which brought her to undertake a clinical fellowship in the bone marrow transplant division at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France. In 2011, she returned to the Department of Hematology at the University of Navarra, where she has since become a member of the Myeloma Unit and leads the clinical trials and immunotherapy programme under the direction of Prof. Jesús San-Miguel.

Dr Paula Rodríguez-Otero discloses: Consultancy/advisory boards for AbbVie, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Kite, Oncopeptides and Sanofi. Speakers bureau participation for Amgen, Celgene and Janssen.