TriangleFOR PATIENTS · SOURCE READING
Immunotherapy
Source: Plasma Cell Neoplasms (Including Multiple Myeloma) Treatment (PDQ®)–Patient Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: November 17, 2023 · Captured 2026-09-09.
Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary. Independent clinical review is pending.
Context: Treatment Option Overview / The following types of treatment are used:
Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the patient's immune system to fight cancer. Substances made by the body or made in a laboratory are used to boost, direct, or restore the body's natural defenses against cancer. This cancer treatment is a type of biologic therapy.
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Immunomodulator therapy: Thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide are immunomodulators used to treat multiple myeloma and other plasma cell neoplasms.
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CAR T-cell therapy: This treatment changes the patient's T cells (a type of immune system cell) so they will attack certain proteins on the surface of cancer cells. T cells are taken from the patient and special receptors are added to their surface in the laboratory. The changed cells are called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. The CAR T cells are grown in the laboratory and given to the patient by infusion. The CAR T cells multiply in the patient's blood and attack cancer cells. CAR T-cell therapy is being studied in the treatment of multiple myeloma that has recurred (come back).
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See Drugs Approved for Multiple Myeloma and Other Plasma Cell Neoplasms.
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Preserved source evidence · Independent clinical review pending · Not medical advice