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Maintenance therapy with alpha‐interferon following first‐line VAD in multiple myeloma
Author(s) -
Kars Ayşe,
Çelik İsmail,
Kansu Emin,
Tekuzman Gülten,
Özişik Yavuz,
Güler Nilüfer,
Barişta İbrahim,
Güllü İbrahim,
Yalçin Şuayib,
Altundaǧ Kadri,
Zengin Nurullah,
Türker Alev,
Hayran Mutlu,
Baltali Eşmen,
Firat Dinçer
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
european journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0902-4441
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1997.tb00732.x
Subject(s) - multiple myeloma , alpha interferon , medicine , alpha (finance) , oncology , immunology , interferon , surgery , construct validity , patient satisfaction
The aim of this study was to evaluate the response characteristics of vincristine, adriamycin and dexamethasone (VAD) as a first‐line chemotherapy and to determine the efficacy of maintenance alpha‐interferon (α‐IFN) in multiple myeloma (MM). Between January 1985 and December 1994, a prospective trial was performed in stage II and III MM patients. The study population received only VAD with no maintenance therapy before 1990 ( n = 31), and those recruited after 1990 ( n = 33) were planned to be maintained with α‐IFN (5 mU, 3 times per wk) during the plateau to a maximum of 2 yr. Median follow‐up duration (44 vs. 39 months), time to response (3.4 vs. 3.5 months) and rate of objective response (61.3%, 19/31 and 63.6%, 21/33) were similar in VAD‐only and VAD+IFN groups, respectively. The survival analyses revealed higher median progression‐free (39.6 vs. 12 months) and overall survival (65+ vs. 24 months) durations in VAD+IFN group compared to VAD‐only group. VAD regimen was well tolerated and IFN‐related side effects were reversible. These findings denote that IFN maintenance prolongs the duration of response obtained by VAD.