Open AccessMulti‐drug Combination Therapy with Vincristine‐Melphalan‐Cyclophosphamide‐Prednisolone Was More Effective than Cyclophosphamide‐Prednisolone in Stage III Myeloma
Author(s) -
Shimizu Kazuyuki,
Kamiya Osamu,
Hamajima Nobuyuki,
Mizuno Harumitsu,
Kobayashi Masahide,
Hirabayashi Noriyuki,
Takeyama Hideo,
Kato Ryoichi,
Kawashima Kohei,
Nitta Masakazu,
Hotta Tomomitsu,
Utsumi Makoto,
Nagura Eiichi
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
japanese journal of cancer research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1349-7006
pISSN - 0910-5050
DOI - 10.1111/j.1349-7006.1990.tb02697.x
Subject(s) - melphalan , prednisolone , cyclophosphamide , medicine , vincristine , chemotherapy , oncology , multiple myeloma , combination chemotherapy , surgery
A cooperative randomized clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of multi‐drug combination chemotherapy (VMCP, vincristine‐melphalan‐cyclophosphamide‐prednisolone) with CP (cyclophosphamide‐prednisolone) for the treatment of multiple myeloma was performed. When the whole group of patients was evaluated, the choice of chemotherapy (VMCP or CP) was not a significant prognostic factor associated with response or survival by uni‐ or multivariate analysis, and the difference between the survival curves of the treatment groups was only marginally significant. However, when the analysis was confined to stage III patients, the choice of chemotherapy became a significant prognostic factor associated with both response rate and survival, and the statistical difference between survival curves was significant. Taking the disease characteristics of multiple myeloma into consideration, the better result obtained with multi‐drug combination chemotherapy in the treatment of stage III patients is consistent with other studies supporting the superiority of multi‐drug combination chemotherapy for patients with overt systemic disease.