A study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that thalidomide (Thalomid), used in conjunction with double autologous stem cell transplants, leads to better outcome in younger patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Autologous stem cell transplants use stem cells collected from the patient’s own bone marrow rather than from a donor. In a double transplant treatment, two transplants are given to the patient within a six-month period.

The study authors retrospectively analyzed the data of 135 patients who received thalidomide until their second stem cell transplant and 135 patients who received double stem cell transplants without taking thalidomide

In their review, the authors found that 68 percent of myeloma patients who received thalidomide together with double stem cell transplants achieved a complete response or near complete response, known as “very good partial response,” compared to 49 percent of patients receiving double stem cell transplants only.

After four years, 62 percent of patients receiving thalidomide in addition to double stem cell transplants still showed a complete or very good partial response, compared to 33 percent in the stem cell transplant-only patient group.

The authors also found significant improvements in the time to disease progression and progression-free survival for the patients receiving thalidomide with double stem cell plants. At the four-year mark, 51 percent of patients receiving thalidomide with double stem cell plants did not show any signs of progression, compared to 31 percent in the stem cell transplant-only group.

All of the patients involved in this study were under the age of 65. Seventeen percent of patients discontinued the thalidomide treatment, including eight percent due to drug-related side effects.

For more information, please see the article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (abstract).