Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma

MULTIPLE myeloma is a fatal disorder with a median survival of about 36 months after conventional chemotherapy. 1 2 3 Even so, more than 50 percent of patients with multiple myeloma respond to first-line therapy, and some patients may even have a complete remission, defined as no detectable monoclonal immunoglobulin in the serum, no light chains in the urine, and no apparent myeloma cells in the bone marrow. Complete remission may occur after conventional intermittent therapy with melphalan plus prednisolone or with multidrug combination chemotherapy. More intensive chemotherapy seems to increase the fraction of patients entering complete remission, particularly if the treatment ablates . . .