
"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”
This trial looked at a drug called lenalidomide and the steroid drug dexamethasone for older people with myeloma. Some younger people who couldn’t have a were also able to take part.
In the past, most doctors usually treated myeloma in older people with chemotherapy and . One of the usual treatment combinations is called MPT.
MPT is the chemotherapy drug melphalan, the steroid drug prednisolone and a type of targeted drug called thalidomide. But sometimes this treatment stops working or the myeloma comes back. So doctors wanted to improve treatment for this group of people.
In this trial, researchers looked at a drug called lenalidomide and the steroid drug dexamethasone. Lenalidomide is a type of targeted drug.
The trial compared usual MPT treatment with lenalidomide and dexamethasone. The aims of the trial were to
The trial team found that lenalidomide and dexamethasone worked for older people with myeloma and younger people who couldn’t have a stem cell transplant.
These results were published in 2018.
Results
1, 623 people took part in this trial.
The researchers looked at the average length of time people lived without any signs of the myeloma getting worse. Researchers call this progression free survival. This was
At the 6 year follow up, 52 people in the continuous lenalidomide group were still having treatment.
Side effects
People in the MPT group had more problems with a drop in blood cells. People having continuous lenalidomide had more infections than the other 2 groups.
The trial team found that continuous lenalidomide and dexamethasone was a useful treatment for myeloma in older people or younger people who couldn’t have a stem cell transplant. They concluded that continuous lenalidomide increased the length of time before myeloma got worse and improved overall survival for these groups of people.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and 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.
Dr Jamie Cavenagh
Celgene Ltd
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”