Continuous Lenalidomide Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 366; no. 19; pp. 1759 - 1769
• Main Authors: Palumbo, Antonio, Hajek, Roman, Delforge, Michel, Kropff, Martin, Petrucci, Maria Teresa, Catalano, John, Gisslinger, Heinz, Wiktor-Jędrzejczak, Wiesław, Zodelava, Mamia, Weisel, Katja, Cascavilla, Nicola, Iosava, Genadi, Cavo, Michele, Kloczko, Janusz, Bladé, Joan, Beksac, Meral, Spicka, Ivan, Plesner, Torben, Radke, Joergen, Langer, Christian, Yehuda, Dina Ben, Corso, Alessandro, Herbein, Lindsay, Yu, Zhinuan, Mei, Jay, Jacques, Christian, Dimopoulos, Meletios A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 10.05.2012
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Clinical trials; Disease-Free Survival; Double-Blind Method; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunomodulation; Immunotherapy; Induction Chemotherapy; Induction therapy; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Maintenance Chemotherapy; Male; Melphalan; Melphalan - administration & dosage; Melphalan - adverse effects; Multiple myeloma; Multiple Myeloma - drug therapy; Multiple Myeloma - mortality; Neoplasms, Second Primary - epidemiology; Neutropenia; Neutropenia - chemically induced; Patients; Prednisone; Prednisone - administration & dosage; Prednisone - adverse effects; Survival; Targeted cancer therapy; Thalidomide - administration & dosage; Thalidomide - adverse effects; Thalidomide - analogs & derivatives; Transplantation; Transplants & implants; Tumors
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1112704

Patients treated with an induction regimen of melphalan, prednisone, and lenalidomide followed by lenalidomide maintenance therapy had longer progression-free survival than those who did not receive maintenance therapy. Melphalan–prednisone (MP) has long been the treatment of choice for patients with multiple myeloma who are older than 65 years of age. 1 The introduction of new agents in the past few years has substantially changed the treatment of multiple myeloma. MP plus either thalidomide or bortezomib is reported to improve progression-free survival and overall survival, as compared with MP alone, 2 , 3 and these combinations are now considered the new standards of care for elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for stem-cell transplantation. 1 Lenalidomide in combination with dexamethasone is effective in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma 4 – . . .