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Original Research Open Access

Patient Preferences for Use of CAR-T Therapy as an Early-Line Treatment in Multiple Myeloma

  • 1Department of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA
  • 2Department of Hematology & Medical Oncology, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
  • 3Johnson & Johnson, Horsham, PA, USA
  • 4Legend Biotech USA Inc., Somerset, NJ, USA
  • 5Johnson & Johnson, Raritan, NJ, USA
  • 6Oracle Life Sciences, Austin, TX, USA
  • 7Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
+ Affiliations - Affiliations

Corresponding Author

Doris K. Hansen, Doris.Hansen@moffitt.org

Received Date: July 06, 2026

Accepted Date: August 18, 2026

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the relative importance of treatment-related attributes on patient preferences for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) as second-line (2L) multiple myeloma (MM) therapy.

Methods: US patients with relapsed or refractory MM who completed ≥1 line of treatment were recruited via convenience sampling to complete a cross-sectional survey between December 2023 and March 2024. In a discrete choice experiment comprising a series of choice tasks, patients chose between 2 hypothetical 2L treatment profiles that varied based on 7 treatment attributes: median progression-free survival (mPFS), median overall survival (mOS), treatment response, serious adverse events (SAEs), neurologic events, cytokine release syndrome (CRS), and treatment administration (one-time infusion vs various routes and schedules for agents). Attributes and levels were derived from targeted literature review, clinical data, expert opinion, and patient interviews and focus groups to simulate real clinical decisions. Preference weights for attribute levels were estimated using hierarchical Bayesian modeling.

Results: Patients (N=127) were 54.3% female, mean age was 66.7 years, and 96.1% were receiving MM medication when surveyed. Patient preferences for 2L treatment were most influenced by increasing mOS from 2 to 6 additional years (|−0.88 – 0.81| = 1.69), increasing mPFS from 7 months to 4 years (|−0.45 – 0.60| = 1.05), decreasing risk of all-grade CRS from 95% to 0% (|−0.54 – 0.45| = 0.99), and decreasing SAE incidence from 73% to 28% (|−0.29 – 0.27| = 0.56). In contrast, decreasing response rate, treatment administration, and decreasing risk of CAR-T–associated grade 3/4 neurotoxicity had the least influence on treatment preferences. Patients preferred one-time infusion over other administration modes.

Conclusion: Survival metrics and safety characteristics concerning CRS had the largest impact on patient preferences for 2L treatment for relapsed MM, suggesting that treatments such as CAR-T will be preferred given the demonstrated PFS benefit as early as 2L treatment.

Keywords

CAR-T, Ciltacabtagene autoleucel, Discrete choice experiment, Multiple myeloma, Relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, Patient preference, Shared decision-making

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