Panobinostat demonstrates ‘profound’ synergy with bortezomib

Dr Richardson said the thrombocytopenia was reversible and not cumulative. Platelet levels rebounded to baseline by day 1 of each cycle.

Lymphopenia, neutropenia, and anemia were also more frequent in the panobinostat arm.

Nonhematologic adverse events, particularly diarrhea and fatigue, were, for the most part, increased over control, with 4.5% of patients on the panobinostat arm discontinuing due to diarrhea and 2.9% discontinuing due to fatigue.

The incidence of adverse events was lower in the second treatment phase, when bortezomib was administered once a week.

And deaths related to study drug were very low, Dr Richardson said, with 11 in the panobinostat arm and 7 in the control arm.

The triple drug combination is “a very important concept going forward,” Dr Richardson said.

Other combinations and additional histone deacetylase inhibitors are being evaluated for MM.