title: Predicting durable remissions following thalidomide therapy for relapsed myeloma.
abstract: In multiple myeloma (MM), it remains unclear whether the depth of response correlates with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). We updated long-term follow-up data on the two previously published multi-centre phase-II trials in patients with relapsed or refractory MM using thalidomide +/- IFN alpha-2B (n = 75, median follow-up 6.1 years) celecoxib-thalidomide combination (n = 66, median follow-up 4.0 years), and assessed the predictors of durable response and impact of depth of response. Twenty-seven of the 141 (19%) patients remained progression-free beyond 24 months. The most significant baseline predictor for durable PFS and OS was a serum beta(2)-microglobulin <or=3.0 mg/L. The median PFS for patients who achieved complete remission/very good partial remission, partial remission and stable disease were 69.4, 13.6 and 4.1 months, respectively (p < 0.001). The OS for these groups were >69.8, 35.4 and 11.7 months, respectively (p < 0.001). These findings support the therapeutic goal of achieving 'maximum depth of response' in patients with relapsed myeloma.
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology and Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Quach
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mileshkin
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Seymour
authors.forename: Alvin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milner
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Westerman
authors.forename: H Miles
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Prince
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D015996:Survival Rate; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013792:Thalidomide