Transplant Still Top Therapy in Multiple Myeloma

Newly diagnosed patients treated with drugs alone more likely to progress

SAN DIEGO -- Despite the success of novel targeted agents in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, an upfront stem cell transplant remains the best treatment choice, a researcher said here.


In a large randomized clinical trial, European investigators compared two forms of intensification therapy: high-dose melphalan (HMD) plus an autologous stem cell transplant or standard-dose bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone (VMP), according to Michele Cavo, MD, PhD, of the Bologna University School of Medicine in Italy.

After a median follow-up of nearly 32 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) had not been reached for those getting a transplant but was 42.5 months for those getting the VMP regimen, Cavo reported at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting.

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