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Blood, 15 November 2006, Vol. 108, No. 10, pp. 3289-3294. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on July 27, 2006; DOI 10.1182/blood-2006-05-022962. This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: blood-2006-05-022962v1 108/10/3289    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Attal, M. Articles by Facon, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Attal, M. Articles by Facon, T. Related Collections Related Article in Blood Online Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Next Article  Submitted May 25, 2006 Accepted July 6, 2006 Maintenance therapy with thalidomide improves survival in multiple myeloma patients Michel Attal*, Jean-Luc Harousseau, Serge Leyvraz, Chantal Doyen, Cyrille Hulin, Lofti Benboubker, Ibrahim Yakoub Agha, Jean-Henri Bourhis, Laurent Garderet, Brigitte Pegourie, Charles Dumontet, Marc Renaud, Laurent Voillat, Christian Berthou, Gerald Marit, Mathieu Monconduit, Denis Caillot, Bernard Grobois, Herve Avet-Loiseau, Philippe Moreau, and Thierry Facon hopital purpan, Toulouse Hotel Dieu, Nantes centre hospitalier universitaire, Lausanne cliniques universitaires de Mont-Godinne, Yvoir centre hospitalier du Brabois, Nancy hopital Bretonneau, Tours hopital Huriez, Lille institut Gustave Roussy, villejuif hopital Saint-antoine, Paris hopital albert Michallon, Grenoble hopital edouard Herriot, Lyon centre hospitalier la Mileterie, Poitiers hopital jean Minjoz, Besancon Hopital Morvan, Brest hopital Haut-Leveque, Bordeaux Centre henri Becquerel, Rouen centre hospitalier Le Bocage, Dijon hopital Sud, Rennes * Corresponding author; email: attal.m{at}chu-toulouse.fr. Newer chemotherapeutic protocols as well as high dose chemotherapy have increased the response rate in myeloma. However, these treatments are not curative. Effective maintenance strategies are now required to prolong the duration of response. We conducted a randomized trial of maintenance treatment with thalidomide and pamidronate. Two months after high dose therapy, 597 patients under the age of 65 years were randomly assigned to receive no maintenance (arm A), pamidronate (arm B), or pamidronate plus thalidomide (arm C). A complete or very good partial response was achieved by 55% of patients in arm A, 57% in arm B, and 67% in arm C (P=0.03). The 3-year post-randomization probability of event-free-survival was 36% in arm A, 37% in arm B, and 52% in arm C (P<0.009). The 4-year post-diagnosis probability of survival was 77% in arm A, 74% in arm B, and 87% in arm C (P<0.04). The proportion of patients who had skeletal events was 24% in arm A, 21% in arm B, and 18% in arm C (P=0.4). Thalidomide is an effective maintenance therapy in patients with multiple myeloma. Maintenance treatment with pamidronate does not decrease the incidence of bone events. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? Related Article in Blood Online: Exciting new agents in multiple myeloma Giampaolo Merlini Blood 2006 108: 3235-3236. [Full Text] [PDF]

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