Authors: Sjoerd Hovenga Simon M G J Daenen Joost T M de Wolf Gustaaf W van Imhoff Hanneke C KluinNelemans Wim J Sluiter Edo Vellenga
Publish Date: 2004/12/17
Volume: 84, Issue: 5, Pages: 311-316
Abstract
Thalidomide is an effective agent for patients with refractory multiple myeloma MM with a response rate of 30–40 at doses of 200–800 mg but with considerable side effects We questioned whether lower doses of thalidomide in combination with a daily dose of cyclophosphamide might be an effective regimen with fewer side effects We included 38 patients with relapsed or refractory MM The median doses of thalidomide and cyclophosphamide were 100 and 95 mg/day respectively Side effects were observed in all patients with neurotoxicity as the most troublesome With a median followup of 14 months 84 of the patients responded including 64 partial responses The median time of progressionfree survival was 30 months and the median overall survival time was 20 months In conclusion the results demonstrate that the combination of lowdose thalidomide with a daily dose of cyclophosphamide is an effective regimen with a high overall response rate and manageable side effectsWe are grateful to Miryam de Brouwer for the data management We also would like to thank Dr GJ Veldhuis and Dr G Woolthuis from the Antonius Hospital Sneek Dr B Bong and Dr RS de Jong from the Martini Hospital Groningen for including patients in this study
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