title: Autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation in elderly patients with multiple myeloma.
abstract: High-dose chemotherapy with melphalan followed by autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) is a standard of care in young patients (<65 years) with multiple myeloma. Most myeloma patients, however, are older than 65 years at the time of diagnosis, and the findings of numerous single-centre and registry studies provide evidence that AHCT can be a feasible and effective treatment option in these patients. Nevertheless, AHCT is not generally recommended as standard treatment in the elderly, due to the fact that a benefit of AHCT over conventional-dose therapy has not been demonstrated by prospective randomized trials. Yet, the use of AHCT has increased substantially in older patients in recent years, and an increasing number of reports suggest comparable outcomes for older and younger patients after AHCT. In this review we summarize the results of AHCT for elderly patients with multiple myeloma.
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, London, UK.|Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Auner
authors.affiliation: Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), Hamburg, Germany.|Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garderet
authors.affiliation: Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), Hamburg, Germany.|University Medical Centre, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kröger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008558:Melphalan / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D018579:Patient Selection; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D008558:Melphalan
keywords: Autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation; comorbidities; elderly patients; multiple myeloma