A recent study showed that initial treatment of multiple myeloma with a combination of cyclophosphamide and thalidomide negatively impacts a patient’s ability to collect stem cells for transplant.

Physicians were able to collect almost 50 percent fewer stem cells from patients treated with cyclophosphamide and thalidomide (Thalomid) compared to patients treated with other commonly used myeloma treatments. This combination therapy may prevent stem cells from moving from the bone marrow into the circulating blood, where they are harvested for stem cell transplantation.

Treatment of multiple myeloma typically begins with a …

A Phase 1 study found the four-drug combination of Revlimid-Velcade-dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide (RVCD) to be safe and effective in newly diagnosed, previously untreated multiple myeloma patients.

These results suggest that adding cyclophosphamide as the fourth drug in the treatment therapy may be just as or more effective than traditional two- and three-drug combinations. The study also determined that 500 mg/m² cyclophosphamide, the highest dose tested, could safely be used in the RVCD drug combination.

Previous studies have shown that three-drug combinations can be very effective, including the Revlimid (lenalidomide)-Velcade (bortezomib)-dexamethasone …