Annals of Oncology Advance Access originally published online on March 1, 2005
Annals of Oncology 2005 16(4):634-639; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdi125
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© 2005 European Society for Medical Oncology
Original articles |
Interferon-
as maintenance therapy in patients with multiple myeloma
1Department of Internal Medicine, Gelre Hospitals, Apeldoorn; 2Department of Hematology, University Medical Center, Groningen; 3Comprehensive Cancer Center West, Leiden; Departments of 4 Medical Statistics and 6 Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden; 5 Department of Internal Medicine, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven; 7 Department of Internal Medicine, Rode Kruis Hospital, The Hague; 8 Department of Internal Medicine, Atrium Medical Center, Heerlen; 9 Department of Internal Medicine, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, Amsterdam; 10 Department of Hematology, Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
* Correspondence to: Dr C. G. Schaar, Department of Internal Medicine, Gelre Hospitals, PO Box 9014, 7300 DS Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-55-5818163; Fax: +31-55-5818170; Email: c.schaar{at}gelre.nl
Background: The effect of interferon-
2b (IFN--2b) on progression-free and overall survival as well as quality of life (QoL) was studied in mainly elderly patients with multiple myeloma (MM), who reached a plateau phase after melphalan/prednisone induction.
Patients and methods: In an open phase III trial, 262 patients, median age 69 years (range 34–91), received at least 10 monthly courses of melphalan/prednisone followed by response evaluation. Plateau phase was reached by 128 patients. Next, 90 patients were randomized between IFN--2b and no maintenance therapy. Reasons for non-randomization were: refusal (18), concomitant disease (nine), protocol violation (six), WHO performance status >2 (four) and allogeneic transplantation (one)
Results: At a median follow-up from diagnosis of 97 months (0–140) for those patients alive, IFN--2b therapy was associated with improved progression-free survival (median 13.5 versus 8.4 months from randomization), although this did not translate in a better overall survival (41 versus 38.4 months). One-third of patients discontinued IFN- due to toxicity. No differences were observed between patient groups in QoL.
Conclusions: IFN maintenance therapy in MM prolongs progression-free survival and, provided that the burden of toxicity is not too high, does not adversely affect QoL.
Key words:
interferon-, maintenance therapy, multiple myeloma
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