Thalidomide in Multiple Myeloma - A Community Hospital Experience.

Multiple Myeloma accounts for 10% of malignant hematologic neoplasms. For the past 30 years, a combination of melphalan and prednisone has been the standard treatment for this disease. Nonetheless, it remains an incurable malignancy with a median survival that does not exceed three years.

Recent evidence suggests that angiogenesis is increased in multiple myeloma and has prognostic value. Because of its anti-angiogenic properties, thalidomide has been employed as therapy and several trials show that thalidomide alone is active in 25% to 35% of patients with relapsed and refractory myeloma. Among previously untreated patients with more advanced and symptomatic disease, the combination of thalidomide-dexamethasone doubled the response rate to 72 % (in comparison to thalidomide alone) and induced remissions more rapidly.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and side effects of thalidomide in combination with glucocorticoid in previously untreated (newly diagnosed) and treated (refractory to other chemotherapies) multiple myeloma patients in a community hospital setting.

Patients and Methods: We retrospectively identified eighty-four consecutive patients with multiple myeloma treated between September 1999 and October 2004 at the Cleveland Clinic Center at Fairview Hospital. The sixteen of eighty-four patients (Table 1) who had received thalidomide were selected for further study. The median starting dose was 150 mg/d. The maintenance dosage was 50–100 mg/d in accordance with tolerability.

In addition to thalidomide all sixteen patients were receiving dexamethasone. All provided written informed consent prior to receiving treatment. The primary end point of the study was response rate, defined as complete (undetectable monoclonal M protein in the serum) or partial (greater than 50% reduction in serum monoclonal M protein level)

Results: Three patients achieved a partial response in the refractory group and 2 in the newly diagnosed group. One patient achieved a complete response in the refractory group and four in newly diagnosed patients. Sixty percent of the patients in the refractory group and 100% of the newly diagnosed patients survived the follow up time (Table 2). Major side effects included sedation in four (25%), deep venous thrombosis in three (18.7%), neuropathy in three (18.7%) and constipation in two (12.5 %) of the patients.

Conclusion: The combination of thalidomide and dexamethasone appears to show promising activity in patients with newly diagnosed and possibly with refractory MM. The combination induced a high frequency of response, rapid onset of remission, and low incidence of serious irreversible toxicity. However, ongoing randomized trials are still needed to define further the role of thalidomide with dexamethasone in the treatment of multiple myeloma.