SPECIAL ARTICLE  MULTIPLE MYELOMA IN 2020: STATE OF THE ART (PART II) Free access

Panminerva Medica 2021 March;63(1):13-20

DOI: 10.23736/S0031-0808.20.04141-5

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Post-transplant consolidation based on combination of lenalidomide and proteasome inhibitors in multiple myeloma

Alessandra ROMANO ¹, Marco SANTORO ² ✉, Concetta CONTICELLO ³, Sergio SIRAGUSA ⁴, Francesco DI RAIMONDO ^{1, 3}, Giovanni MARTINELLI ⁵, Claudio CERCHIONE ⁵

¹ Department of Surgery and Medical Surgery, University of Catania, Catania, Italy; ² Department of Surgery, Stomatology and Experimental Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; ³ Unit of Hematology, Rodolico San Marco University Polyclinic, Catania, Italy; ⁴ Unit of Hematology, G. D’Alessandro Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Infant Care, Internal and Specialized Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; ⁵ Unit of Hematology, IRCCS Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST), Meldola, Forlì-Cesena, Italy

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy due to uncontrolled proliferation of neoplastic plasma cells in the bone marrow, associated to chromosomal instability and cytogenetic abnormalities, which could have an impact on prognosis. Response to treatment and survival of newly diagnosed myeloma patients is heterogeneous, with median overall survival ranging from two to more than ten years, due to clinical and biological factors. To warrant long-term control of disease, several strategies have been proposed in the last years, including short-term high-dose of treatment, named as consolidation, before maintenance. This review will discuss the role of consolidation in the current myeloma treatment landscape, and further improvements required to optimize tailored front-line therapy.

KEY WORDS: Multiple myeloma; Consolidation chemotherapy; Therapy