Second primary malignancies in patients with haematological cancers treated with lenalidomide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Lenalidomide has been standard therapy for multiple myeloma and other haematological malignancies for more than a decade. Previous meta-analyses identified an association between lenalidomide and second primary malignancies (SPM) in patients with multiple myeloma. However, newer randomised controlled trials using lenalidomide for other indications have not reported an increased incidence of SPM. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of developing SPM with lenalidomide use in all disease settings.

Methods: We did a systematic review of randomised controlled trials that reported SPM in patients treated with lenalidomide. PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, Europe PubMed Central, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from Jan 1, 2004, to March 18, 2022. Randomised controlled trials with at least one lenalidomide group and one non-lenalidomide group were selected, regardless of the disease setting. Studies with a median follow-up of less than 12 months were excluded. Summary data were extracted by two reviewers (KS and KL) independently and verified by a third reviewer (JF). We then conducted a meta-analysis to assess the risk ratio (RR) of SPM with lenalidomide use across various disease subtypes using a random-effects model. We chose random effects for the primary analysis because of anticipated heterogeneity between different diseases, but we used fixed effects for stratified meta-analysis of multiple myeloma studies. Risk of bias was assessed with the PROTECT tool. The study was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42021257508.

Findings: Our search yielded 9078 studies, and 38 trials that included 14 058 patients were eligible for meta-analysis after screening, 18 of which were in multiple myeloma. The RR across all malignancies was 1·16 (95% CI 0·96-1·39). However, there was heterogeneity across indications (p=0·020). The RR when lenalidomide was used for multiple myeloma was 1·42 (1·09-1·84). There was no increase in SPM in lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (0·90 [0·76-1·08]) and myelodysplastic syndrome (0·96 [0·23-3·97]) trials. In the setting of multiple myeloma, lenalidomide increased both solid and haematological SPM, both in the no-transplantation and post-transplantation settings. From the 38 trials, 21 (55%) had low risk of bias, 12 (32%) had unclear risk of bias, and five (13%) had high risk of bias.

Interpretation: Based on the current data, lenalidomide-induced SPM seem to occur exclusively in patients with multiple myeloma. Thus, lenalidomide can be used for other indications without the major concern of a therapy-related neoplasm. In the multiple myeloma setting, lenalidomide is an effective drug, but patients should be monitored both for haematological and solid tumour SPM. This monitoring includes patients that have not received autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Further investigations are needed to improve understanding on why lenalidomide only promotes SPM in patients with multiple myeloma.

Funding: None.