[Guest1]

Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by Guest1 on Thu May 31, 2012 12:47 pm

Hi,

As of May 2012, what is the most recommended and accepted maintenance therapy agreed amongst myeloma experts and scientists after the completion of an autologous stem cell transplant?

Thanks.

[Christa's Mom]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by Christa's Mom on Thu May 31, 2012 4:19 pm

Hi,

I don't think there is a "one size fits all" answer to your question. Like most things myelma reated, it depends. I saw an interesting chart recently (can't remember where off the top of my head) that said that if you had standard risk myeloma, and achieved CR with a SCT, maintenance might not be the best course of action. However, if you were standard risk, and did not achieve CR with an SCT, I believe this chart advocated Revlimid. It went on from there based upon various combinations of risk factors and age.

Lyn

[Joanne in Texas]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by Joanne in Texas on Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:16 am

As a maintence form of treatment after my Stemcell transplant I was put on Revlimid /Dexo for a year. It will be a year I have been off it in Sept. This has been working for me. I could do without the severe leg and body cramps but other than that I am doing okay.

[Beacon Staff]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by Beacon Staff on Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:21 am

Maintenance therapy is a regular topic here in the forum. You can see all the previous discussions about the subject by clicking on this link:

https://myelomabeacon.org/forum/search.php?keywords=maintenance&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sr=topics&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Also, The Beacon recently summarized the recent Consensus Statement published by the International Myeloma Working Group on maintenance therapy. Here is the summary:

https://myelomabeacon.org/news/2012/02/01/experts-publish-consensus-statement-on-maintenance-therapy-in-multiple-myeloma/

Another relevant article is one that The Beacon recently published about three major studies that recently released results related to maintenance therapy with Revlimid. Please see this link:

https://myelomabeacon.org/news/2012/05/11/revlimid-lenalidomide-maintenance-therapy-studies-clarify-benefits-and-risks/

As you will see when you review the forum discussions and news articles, there are a lot of open questions about the value of maintenance therapy. It is the subject of a lot of ongoing research and, as such, there are no definitive answers.

[lyndaclark]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by lyndaclark on Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:09 pm

My two SCTs were back in 2006. I was prescribed thalidomide/dex and monthly Zometa infustions for one year as post-SCT maintenance. All were stopped early due to low blood counts and possible osteonecrosis in my fibula. I started experiencing jaw necrosis during the last year.

[suzierose]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by suzierose on Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:10 pm

Hi Guest,

Some of these videos discuss maintenance:
https://myelomabeacon.org/forum/videos-from-managing-myeloma-t1078.html

[Guest1]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by Guest1 on Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:19 pm

Thank you everyone for your responses!

[Riosbuddy]

Re: Recommended Maintenance Therapy Post Auto SCT

by Riosbuddy on Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:40 pm

Diagnosed in 10/08 and had Auto SCT in 2/09. No maintenance since then, except Zometa by infusion 4x year. So far so good. Had a couple of minute elevations in my urine/blood tests but they went down within 30-60 days.