Subcutaneous (SC) administration of daratumumab (DARA) was associated with shorter clinic times than intravenous (IV) administration was in a study of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) being treated at Mayo Clinic infusion centers. Study findings were reported in JCO Oncology Practice.
“In summary, our findings add to the growing body of real-world evidence investigating DARA SC as an efficient and convenient administration option for the treatment of patients with MM,” the study investigators wrote in their report.
According to the investigators, the median duration of administration of SC DARA for patients with MM is 3 to 5 minutes, compared with 3 to 7 hours with IV administration. However, administration-related reactions (ARRs) may occur with DARA infusion, and longer infusion times during the first dose may lessen this risk. SC administration of DARA is associated with less of a risk of ARRs than IV administration is, so the research team conducted this study to compare administration approaches in terms of clinic and chair times and ARRs associated with each.
Continue Reading
In this analysis of patient records from the Mayo Clinic database of electronic health records, the study investigators evaluated time-based measurements, medication usage before and after administration, and ARR-related events for patients receiving IV or SC administration of DARA for MM. There were 13 Mayo Clinic sites included in the analysis.
Across all doses, there was a median total clinic time with DARA IV of 4.8 hours. For patients receiving DARA SC, median total clinic times were found to be shorter by 2.7 to 3.0 hours compared with times for patients receiving DARA IV when including all doses. The first dose was associated with the longest median clinic times regardless of the administration approach. The investigators also reported that the median total chair time was 2.7 to 2.8 hours shorter with the use of DARA SC, compared with DARA IV, across all doses.
ARRs were primarily identified through records indicating medication use that the investigators considered potentially associated with ARR treatment. ARR-related events were found to be low for patients receiving DARA SC at initial and subsequent doses. Based on medication use, ARR-related events that were detected in association with dose 1 were reported in 8.4% of patients who began therapy with DARA SC and in 5.0% of patients who had switched from IV to SC administration of DARA.
“This study demonstrates that treatment of MM with DARA SC helps reduce total clinic times in a clinical practice setting compared with DARA IV,” the study investigators wrote in their report. They noted that the additional time saved with DARA SC may support a greater availability of clinic resources and improve scheduling options for patients, in addition to other possible benefits.
Disclosures: Some authors have declared affiliations with or received grant support from the pharmaceutical industry. Please refer to the original study for a full list of disclosures.
Reference
Soefje SA, Carpenter C, Carlson K, et al. Clinical administration characteristics of subcutaneous and intravenous administration of daratumumab in patients with multiple myeloma at mayo clinic infusion centers. JCO Oncol Pract. Published online February 9, 2023. doi:10.1200/OP.22.00421
