BACKGROUND/AIM Daratumumab is a promising novel agent for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). However, there are limited data on its efficacy and toxicity profiles in real-world patients, especially in the Asian population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a multicenter, retrospective, longitudinal cohort study set between January 2017 and April 2019. We collected and analyzed clinical and survival data of 21 patients treated with daratumumab monotherapy. All patients were previously exposed to proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs.

RESULTS The overall response rate was 42.1%, including one complete remission (4.8%) and three very good partial responses (14.3%). The cycles of daratumumab delivered were three (range=1-10 cycles) and the median progression-free survival was 6 months, while the overall survival was not reached. Infusion reaction was observed in nine patients (42.9%), and one discontinued permanently. Fatigue was the most common adverse event (52.4%), and there were five cases of documented infection during daratumumab treatment, two of them leading to the death of the patient.

CONCLUSION Daratumumab monotherapy showed fairly promising activity with modest tolerance in heavily treated Asian RRMM patients.