Clinical Efficacy Of Thalidomide Plus Melphalan And Prednisone In The Treatment Of Patients With Multiple Myeloma

Objective:to explore the efficacy and toxicity of patients with multiple myeloma(MM) who treated with MP regimen(melphalan and prednisone) alone(the control group) compared with thalidomide plus MP regimen(the treated group).Methods:18 patients in the treated group were initially admimistered thalidomide at dose of 100mg/d,then increased 50mg/d to 200mg/d every two weeks.Chemotherapy with melphalan 8mg/m2 daily and oral prednison 2mg/kg daily for four days was acconpanied in all patients,each cycle lasted for one month.21 cases in the control group received Chemotherapy with MP regimen alone.The level of serum Hb,protein M and marrow plasmocytes were tested before,undergoing and after treatment.After 4 courses of treatment,we evaluated the effects and side effects of the two groups.Results: in the treated group,after treatment, the serum Hb increased by 26.9% compared with those before treatment, myeloma cells decreased 73.2%,lgG decreased 50.0% , IgA decreased 84.7% after treatment,in the analysis,the P values were 0.02,0.047,0.183,0.047 respectively.In the control group,after treatment, the serum Hb increased by 22.8% compared with those before treatment, myeloma cells decreased 62.8%,lgG decreased 32.0% after treatment,in the analysis,the P values were 0.985,0.001,0.966 respectively.The total response rate was 72.22%(13/18) and 47.62%(10/21) in the treated group and in the control group, respectively, which demonstrated a significant difference (P<0.05). The main side effects in the treated group were skin rash, constipation, somnolence and edema.Conclusion: thalidomide plus MP regimen is more effective than MP regimen alone in the treatment of MM,and it is well tolerable.