Multiple Myeloma Clinical Trial Led to More Than Four Years of Remission

For patients facing a multiple myeloma diagnosis, the journey is often defined by a search for the next line of defense. For survivor Julie Cohen, that search led her to the front lines of medical innovation at Mount Sinai, where a second clinical trial didn’t just offer a new treatment — it offered a turning point.

In this candid conversation with CURE, Cohen details her experience with cevostamab, an experimental bispecific antibody designed to harness the immune system by targeting the FcRH5 protein on myeloma cells. While the road to remission involved a rigorous step-up dosing schedule and managing side effects like cytokine release syndrome (CRS), the result was a profound shift in her quality of life.

Now more than four years MRD-negative — meaning no cancer cells are detectable at a high degree of sensitivity — Cohen reflects on the balance between the intense monitoring of a trial and the freedom it eventually restored. Her story serves as a powerful testament to the role of clinical research in transforming the myeloma landscape and providing patients with a path toward long-term, drug-free remission.

Transcript:

Can you tell me about the second clinical trial you enrolled in that eventually did send the disease into remission?

Clinical trials involve very close monitoring and additional labs and imaging, so there's some extra time, a little bit extra time commitment the research team where I had my clinical trials, at was Mount Sinai, and they were exceptional. My second clinical trial, which was the one that was successful, was with cevostamab, which is a bispecific antibody that uses your own immune system to target and kill the myeloma cells. There are a couple that are FDA approved. But cevostamab is still not FDA approved. It hopefully will be soon. It targets the FcRH5 protein that's expressed on the myeloma cells.

After three weeks of being inpatient for step-up dosing — it was three days in, four days out, three weeks in a row to monitor the side effects, and I had [cytokine release syndrome (CRS)], which is a common side effect of these bispecifics. Once that was over, I received the infusions every three weeks for 17 cycles, so that equated to about a year. What was wonderful about that is it allowed me to have my life back in between treatments, it gave me the opportunity to travel and really enjoy my life.

My last treatment was Dec. 1, 2022 and I have been MRD-negative 10 to the minus six, which means they cannot detect one in a million cancer cells, for four-plus years now. And they monitor me, and I'm not on any drugs at all, so I'm extremely grateful.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.