
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”
This trial looked at an antibiotic called levofloxacin to see if it reduced the risk of infection and death in people starting treatment for myeloma.
Myeloma is a type of cancer that develops from cells in the called plasma cells. Plasma cells are part of the immune system.
Because myeloma affects the immune system, people who have it are at a greater risk of picking up infections. This infection risk is much higher when the myeloma is active and you start treatment.
Researchers in this trial looked at reducing the risk of infection from the start. Rather than waiting to see if an infection developed and then treat it.
They tested an already used all over the world, called levofloxacin.
In this trial half of the people taking part took levofloxacin for 12 weeks when they started treatment for myeloma and the other half took a dummy tablet ().
The aim of this trial was to see if taking levofloxacin at the start of treatment reduced the risk of infection.
12 weeks after treatment the team looked at how many infections were reported in each group. They found that the total number of infections reported was 586. In the levofloxacin group there were 257 infections (44%) reported. In the dummy drug group there were 329 infections (56%) reported.
315 people were also taking sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP) to prevent infection. Researchers said that having SMZ-TMP in addition to levofloxacin had helped reduce the number of high temperatures and deaths.
Conclusion
The team concluded that taking levofloxacin for 12 weeks at the start of treatment for myeloma can help prevent high temperatures and deaths.
The team recommend that future trials look at the value of adding SMZ-TMP to levofloxacin for more than 12 weeks.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Professor Mark Drayson
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme
University of Birmingham
University of Warwick
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”