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Dexamethasone ± thalidomide with infusion of cisplatin, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide [D(T) PACE] is generally reserved as salvage therapy for aggressive multiple myeloma ( MM) or plasma cell leukaemia ( PCL) resistant to conventional therapies. The efficacy and durability of this potentially toxic regimen in this setting is unclear. We identified 75 patients who received D(T) PACE for relapsed/refractory MM at two tertiary care centres: Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto and Mayo Clinic Arizona. At time of D(T) PACE, 16 patients had PCL and three patients had leptomeningeal disease. Patients were heavily pretreated (median three prior regimens, range 1-12; prior autologous stem cell transplant [ ASCT] 33%). Overall response rate was 49% (very-good partial response 16%, partial response 33%) with stable disease in an additional 36%. Median progression-free survival ( PFS) was 5·5 months (95% confidence interval [ CI]:4·3-9·8); overall survival ( OS) 14·0 months (95% CI:8·7-19·3). Thirty-five patients proceeded to ASCT or clinical trial, with median PFS for this subset of 13·4 months (95% CI:7·7-20·1) and OS 20·5 months (95% CI:14·8-63·8). D(T) PACE is an effective salvage therapy for heavily pretreated MM patients. Although the overall response rate of 49% in this poor prognosis cohort is reasonable, the PFS is short, suggesting the best role for D(T) PACE is in bridging to definitive therapy, such as transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency and prognostic relevance of translocations t(11;14) and t(4;14), the most common translocations involving the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene in multiple myeloma (MM), were investigated in 128 patients treated with intensive chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant. Myeloma cells were identified by cytoplasmic light chain immunofluorescence combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization (cIg-FISH) for detection of translocations t(11;14) and t(4;14). Overall, t(11;14) was detected in 16 of 125 (12·8%) and t(4;14) in 15 of 120 (12·5%) patients. Progression-free and overall survivals were similar for patients with or without t(11;14). However, patients with t(4;14) had significantly shorter progression-free (median 9·9 months vs. 25·8 months; P = 0·0003) and overall survivals (median 18·3 months vs. 48·1 months; P < 0·0001) than patients without t(4;14). The t(4;14) was associated with IgA and t(11;14) with light chain MM. There was no association between the t(11;14) or t(4;14) and other biological parameters including age, gender, haemoglobin, β-2 microglobulin, C-reactive protein, calcium, creatinine, albumin, or the percentage of bone marrow plasma cells. Multivariate analysis identified t(4;14) as the only adverse prognostic factor for both progression-free survival and overall survival. Our results indicate that the t(4;14) detected by cIg-FISH is associated with a poor prognosis in MM patients receiving intensive chemotherapy and autotransplant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]