title: Comparison of Two Therapeutic Regimes, Lenalidomide with Dexamethasone and Thalidomide with Dexamethasone, in the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma at a Tertiary Care Hospital in India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple myeloma accounts for 1% of all neoplastic disorders and 10% of all haematological malignancies. Drugs like thalidomide, lenalidomide and bortezomib have emerged as active drugs in the treatment of multiple myeloma.There are few studies which have compared thalidomide-dexamethasone (thal/dex) and lenalidomide-dexamethasone (len/dex) in the treatment of multiple myeloma in Indian scenario.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy and the adverse events observed with thalidomide-dexamethasone and lenalidomide-dexamethasone in the treatment of newly diagnosed cases of multiple myeloma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational Study conducted in tertiary care centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  The case record files of patients from the year January 2006 to July 2011 with diagnosis of multiple myeloma were studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primarily Descriptive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference between thal/dex and len/dex treatment groups with respect to efficacy and safety in our study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Studies with larger sample size and a longer follow up to compare efficacy and safety of thal/dex and len/dex in treatment of multiple myeloma are required to be carried out to provide significant results.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Srinivas Institute of Medical Sciences , Mukka, Mangalore, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Nithin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sashidharan
authors.affiliation: Additional Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University , Manipal, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Smita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shenoy
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University , Manipal, Karnataka, India .
authors.forename: Meena Kumari Kamal
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kishore
authors.affiliation: Tutor, Department of Pharmacology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University , Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Harish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thanusubramanian
keywords: Bortezomib; Melphalan; Neutropenia; Thrombocytopenia