The picture shows a CAR T cell product that is ready for thawing in a warm water bath and subsequent administration to a patient with multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is an incurable, life-threatening, and life-shortening hematological cancer. It is the second most common hematological cancer in Denmark. Over the past decades, treatment of multiple myeloma has undergone a markedly positive development, reflected in improved survival data.
One of the new and very promising treatment approaches is chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells). You can read more about the principles of this treatment elsewhere on this website.
Since March 2025, it has been possible to treat patients with multiple myeloma with CAR T from the fourth line of therapy and onward, as ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Cilta-cel), Carvykti®, was approved by the Danish Medicines Council based on data from the CARTITUDE-1 trial. This study shows, with long-term follow-up (61.3 months), that one third of patients remain disease-free. Treatment with Carvykti® targets BCMA, an antigen typically present on malignant plasma cells in multiple myeloma. With the introduction of CAR T therapy, there is now hope for even better long-term survival—perhaps even what we might call a “functional cure,” meaning that some patients may live for many years without signs of disease, even if it cannot be stated with certainty that the cancer has been completely eradicated.
We are also actively participating in the testing of other CAR T treatments for multiple myeloma. Currently, we can offer a randomized study testing CAR T that targets another antigen besides BCMA—namely GPRC5D, which is also typically expressed on myeloma cells.