Impact of COVID-19 on outcomes with teclistamab in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in the phase 1/2 MajesTEC-1 study

The risk of infection in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) is high, particularly for those with relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM), who typically exhibit substantial immune dysfunction due to multiple prior therapies as well as MM itself [ 1 , 2 ]. The recent COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on patients with MM compared with non-MM patients, including a higher risk of infection, a higher excess mortality rate, and decreased survival in 2020 compared with 2019 [ 3 ]. Patients with MM are now known to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infection [ 4 ]; COVID-19 mortality rates of up to 57% have been reported in patients with MM across different institutions [ 5 ], with hematologic cancers associated with higher infection severity and mortality than other tumor types [ 6 ].