Efficacy of carfilzomib in the treatment of relapsed and (or) refractory multiple myeloma: a meta-analysis of data from clinical trials.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, carfilzomib has become a promising therapeutic approach for relapsed and (or) refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), but no study has summarized the overall effect of carfilzomib in RRMM. To explore the role of carfilzomib, we performed a meta-analysis of all known prospective clinical trials to assess the efficacy of carfilzomib in patients with RRMM.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: A systematic review of publications was performed on December 15, 2015. Eight studies including 1,446 patients were identified. Meta-analyses were carried out to calculate the overall response rate (ORR), complete response rate (CRR), and clinical benefit rate (CBR) of carfilzomib for RRMM.

RESULTS: In patients with RRMM, ORR was 0.44, CRR was 0.13, and CBR was 0.54. High heterogeneity between studies was observed, and funnel plots were symmetrical, negating publication bias. Carfilzomib was generally well tolerated by patients reported in the studies though some manageable adverse effects occurred.

CONCLUSION: Our analysis revealed a promising benefit of carfilzomib in the treatment of RRMM.