Introduction: The combination of lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Len-Dex) is an established regimen for patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma. To prolong the benefit of this effective regimen, the Myeloma Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has routinely added a third agent, oral cyclophosphamide (Cy) given weekly, to Len-Dex at disease progression.
Patients and methods: In the present report, we describe the cases of 53 patients who had received Len-Dex-Cy for a minimum of 4 weeks from January 2007 to December 2014 after progression with Len-Dex alone. The dose of added Cy ranged from 250 to 500 mg weekly. The median number of previous regimens, including Len-Dex, was 2 (range, 2-4); 80% of patients had undergone previous autologous stem cell transplantation.
Results: The overall rate of response equal to or greater than a partial response was 34%, and clinical benefit (stable disease or better) was observed in 87% of the patients. The median duration of Len-Dex-Cy therapy was 6.9 months (range, 0.9-55.1 months). The median progression-free survival was 6.1 months (range, 4.2-8.1 months) from the addition of Cy and 24.1 months (range, 15.9-32.0 months) from start of Len-Dex.
Conclusion: The addition of Cy for patients with myeloma developing progression with Len-Dex was an inexpensive option with manageable toxicity that resulted in a clinically meaningful extension of disease control.
Keywords: Cyclophosphamide; Lenalidomide; Multiple myeloma; Refractory; Relapsed.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.