Lenalidomide for multiple myeloma
Published on 03/25/10Phase 3 trials presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Hematology Society in New Orleans show that lenalidomide (Revlimid) improves outcomes at all stages of multiple myeloma (MM).
In elderly patients with newly diagnosed MM, adding continuous treatment with lenalidomide after induction with melphalan/ prednisone/lenalidomide reduced the risk of disease progression by 75%. Compared with induction with melphalan/prednisone alone, adding lenalidomide to induction and then continuing treatment reduced the risk of progression or death by 50%.
A second study showed that, after induction with dexamethasone/lenalidomide, consolidation with melphalan/prednisone/lenalidomide was found to be as effective as autologous stem-cell transplantation plus tandem melphalan, with one-year progression-free survival rates of 91 and 94%, respectively.
A third trial showed that, compared with placebo, continuous lenalidomide reduced the risk of disease progression after autologous transplantation by 58%.
In presymptomatic patients, induction with lenalidomide/ dexamethasone followed by continuous low-dose lenalidomide reduced disease progression (4 versus 34%) compared with no treatment after a median follow-up of 14 months.
