Taste Changes from Talquetamab -Talisman Study Insights | Rakesh Popat, PhD

My name's Rakesh Popat and I'm a haematologist based at University College Hospital in London in the UK. I'm going to be presenting an abstract using something called a wet score for patients receiving talcquatumab. So talcquatumab is a bispecific antibody that is now approved for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma. It's a very effective drug, but because it targets something called GPRC5D, it causes a new set of side effects. Namely, it causes some taste disturbance, dry mouth, skin and nail problems. And we know from talking to patients that the effect on the taste particularly is troublesome, really because taste is very important for our daily activities of eating and enjoyment in life. And so what we know from the clinical trials is that the traditional way of reporting taste problems, i.e. asking the patients how they're feeling, isn't very accurate, and also it doesn't tell us when the taste problems happen and if they get better or not. So what this study is all about is trying to identify this in more detail. And the wet score is something called a waterless empirical taste test. And essentially we ask our patients to use various different taste strips which they put in their mouth, rub across their tongue and they are flavoured using the main determinants of taste. And the patient will tell us whether they can taste strip 1, taste strip 2, taste strip 3 and so forth. And we log this on a regular basis as time goes on. What we're showing is that this taste strip test or wet score is highly sensitive of detecting taste disturbances with talcotumab. What we see is that the taste problems happen very rapidly. They normally happen within the first four weeks. But importantly, we're also seeing that they improve after three months. So this is really important now because what we see with patients is that you experience these taste effects and you say, oh, I don't want this drug anymore. But this drug is very effective. But now we know that the taste symptoms improve at about three months. It's about trying to persevere, working ways around it, see a dietician, get some supplements, work your way around because we know that it will get better. To help us continue this important work. Your gift will go three times as far when we reach $500,000 by the end of the year. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference. And we're deeply grateful for your support.