Carfilzomib experience in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a single-center experience

Background/aim: Carfilzomib (CFZ) is a new-generation proteasome inhibitor with significant activity in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (R/R-MM). We have retrospectively evaluated R/R-MM patients who were treated with CFZ plus dexamethasone. Materials and methods: Twenty-one R/R-MM patients who were treated with CFZ plus dexamethasone between October 2013 and January 2016 were screened. The patients were followed until March 2016 after CFZ treatment. Results: Ten (47.6%) of the patients were female and 11 (52.4%) of them were male. The median age was 62 (47-76) years. The median number of prior treatment lines was 3 (2-7). The median number of administered cycles of treatment for CFZ was 4 (1-10). The median overall response rate was 26.3%. The most common hematological adverse events were anemia and thrombocytopenia (38%). The most common nonhematological adverse event was fatigue (71.4%). One patient died because of a cerebrovascular event and 1 patient died because of pneumonia during the treatment period. The median duration of response rate and time to next therapy were 8 (7-9) and 3 (2-16) months, respectively. The median overall survival was 8 (0.5-33) months. Conclusion: Despite the small number of patients, our results suggest that CFZ provides acceptable responses in heavily pretreated R/R-MM patients.