Maintenance therapy with alpha-interferon following first-line VAD in multiple myeloma

• Published in: European journal of haematology 1997-08, Vol.59 (2), p.100-104
• Main Authors: 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
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; alpha-interferon; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Dexamethasone; Doxorubicin - administration & dosage; Female; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; Humans; induction; Interferon alpha-2; Interferon-alpha - administration & dosage; Leukemias. Malignant lymphomas. Malignant reticulosis. Myelofibrosis; maintenance; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; multiple myeloma; Multiple Myeloma - drug therapy; Multivariate Analysis; Recombinant Proteins; Survival Analysis; Time Factors; VAD chemotherapy; Vincristine - administration & dosage
• ISSN: 0902-4441; 1600-0609
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1997.tb00732.x

: 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.