OBJECTIVES: This analysis evaluates resource utilization in the OCEAN study of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) treated with melphalan flufenamide (melflufen) plus dexamethasone (dex) or pomalidomide (pom) plus dex, by looking at the frequency of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) leading to hospitalization.

METHODS: Patients who received ≥1 dose of study treatment (safety population) were analyzed for the proportion of patients in each treatment arm with TEAEs leading to hospitalization >24 hours, and number of TEAEs leading to hospitalization >24 hours per treatment year.

RESULTS: There were 226 (99.1%) and 241 (98.0%) patients in the melflufen+dex and pom+dex arms experiencing 3919 and 2306 TEAEs, respectively. The most common type of TEAE was hematologic, occurring in 93.4% and 64.6% of patients, respectively. In total, 131 and 166 TEAEs in 30.7% and 35.0% of patients led to hospitalization, respectively. The most common type of TEAEs leading to hospitalization were infections and infestations in 12.7% and 19.5% of patients, respectively, including infective pneumonias, occurring in 5.7% and 9.8%. Hematologic TEAEs led to hospitalization in 7.5% and 3.7% of patients, respectively. Other TEAEs that led to hospitalization included injury, poisoning, and procedural complications in 3.9% and 3.7% and cardiac disorders in 2.2% and 4.5% of patients, respectively. Hospitalizing TEAEs occurred at frequencies of 0.86 and 1.12 per treatment year in the melflufen+dex and pom+dex arms, respectively. Infections and infestations occurred at frequencies of 0.27 and 0.41 per treatment year in the melflufen+dex and pom+dex arms, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Inpatient services for TEAEs had limited use in the OCEAN study. The most common reason for hospitalization was infections in both arms. Few of the hematologic TEAEs required hospitalization. Overall, hospitalizing TEAEs were less frequent with melflufen+dex compared with pom+dex.