Emerging therapies for multiple myeloma: Application in older adults

Tremendous advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma have yielded improvements in survival in patients with multiple myeloma. A number of pivotal phase III trials have established the benefit of these newer agents in individuals with relapsed multiple myeloma. Because older adults are under-enrolled in clinical trials, clinical trial data may not be categorically generalizable to more vulnerable older adults. In this review, the applicability to older adults of recent clinical trials of newer agents in older adults with myeloma are examined, with attention to eligibility criteria, dosing of therapy, characteristics of the population, and subgroup analyses of older adults.