Three salvage regimens—DCEP, VTD-PACE, and CVAD—demonstrated similar responses, survival, and adverse events, according to a study of 107 patients with recurrent/refractory multiple myeloma. Researchers found:

•Differences between treatment groups included higher baseline creatinine for patients treated with CVAD and greater prior infusional chemotherapy for patients receiving VTD-PACE.

•The response rate was approximately 55% for all 3 regimens.

•For the intent-to-transplant population, 62% were successfully bridged to transplant without further therapy.

•Overall median progression-free survival was 4.5 months and median overall survival was 8.5 months for all 3 regimens.

•There was no statistically significant difference among clinically relevant adverse events, although there was a suggestion of fewer adverse events with DCEP.

•Patients treated with intent to transplant had superior outcomes for response.

Citation: Griffin PT, Ho VQ, Fulp W, et al. A comparison of salvage infusional chemotherapy regimens for recurrent/refractory multiple myeloma. [Published online ahead of print July 6, 2015]. Cancer. doi: 1002/cncr.29533.