Minimal important differences and response shift in health-related quality of life : a longitudinal study in patients with multiple myeloma

Acknowledgements This project has been financed with the aid of EXTRA funds from the Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation. The authors thank health-care providers at the following hospitals for recruiting patients to this study: Akershus University Hospital; Diakonhjemmet Hospital; Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital; Oslo University Hospital, Aker; Oslo University Hospital, Ulleval; Sorlandet Hospital, Arendal; Sykehuset in Vestfold, Tonsberg; Sykehuset Innlandet, division Gjovik, Hamar, Kongsvinger and Lillehammer; Sykehuset Ostfold, Fredrikstad; Telemark Hospital, Skien; Vestre Viken HF, division Asker and Baerum, Buskerud, Kongsberg and Ringerike. Preliminary results have been presented as a paper at the ISOQOL annual meeting, New Orleans, October 2009Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Therapeutic Options in the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma: Pharmacoeconomic and Quality-of-Life Considerations

A review of current treatment options in multiple myeloma is presented, including data on health-related quality of life and pharmacoeconomics. For induction chemotherapy, no combination of cytostatic drugs has been shown to be consistently superior to the simple cyclic oral treatment with melphalan and prednisone that has been available for 30 years. The total resource consumption and direct costs per patient treated with melphalan and prednisone is approximately $US10 000 (1995 values). As median survival is prolonged from less than a year in untreated patients to 30 to 36 months, this treatment must be considered cost effective. Interferon-alpha has a modest effect on progression-free and overall survival when added to chemotherapy regimens. However, the high cost and toxicity of this drug results in an unfavourable cost-utility ratio, estimated to be between$US50 000 to $US100 000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Clinical trials suggest that high dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell support administered to patients who have achieved disease stabilisation or objective response to conventional induction chemotherapy, prolongs median survival by about 1.5 years. Preliminary cost-utility analyses suggest a cost per life-year gained of$US30 000 to $US40 000. Further potential improvements of this therapeutic modality are under way. Several bisphosphonates have been tested for the ability to prevent the skeletal complications of multiple myeloma. Monthly infusions of pamidronate have been shown in 1 randomised trial to significantly reduce the rate of skeletal complications. Unfortunately, the rapid and widespread acceptance of this therapy seems to preclude further prospective, placebo-controlled trials with cost-utility evaluation.Reviews-on-treatment, Multiple-myeloma, Antineoplastics, Interferon-alpha, Stem-cell-transplant, Cost-analysis, Bone-marrow-transplant, Cost-analysis, Quality-of-life, Immunoglobulins, Epoetin-alfa, Bisphosphonates

Serum calcium is an independent predictor of quality of life in multiple myeloma

Bone disease is an important feature of multiple myeloma, and hypercalcaemia is a frequent complication of this disease. We examined the association between serum calcium and quality of life (QOL) scores of 686 multiple myeloma patients at the time of diagnosis. Data from two Nordic studies using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire were analysed by means of linear regression analysis and a curve fitting program. Serum calcium was independently related to appetite loss, nausea/vomiting and physical functioning (P < 0.001) and to cognitive functioning (P = 0.001), i.e. scores reflecting symptoms that are well known in non-malignant hypercalcaemia. In addition, we found a highly significant independent relationship between serum calcium and the scores for fatigue and pain (P < 0.001). Serum calcium appeared to be as strong a predictor for fatigue as the concentration of haemoglobin. A cubic model (y = a + bx(3)) fitted the data slightly better than the simple linear model (y = a + bx) and suggested worsening QOL scores at levels of serum calcium above 2.5-3.0 mmol/L. Hypercalcaemia in patients with multiple myeloma seems to be associated with the same symptoms as in non-malignant hypercalcaemia. In addition, an increased level of serum calcium may aggravate the pain and fatigue caused by the skeletal disease itself

Intensive therapy for multiple myeloma in patients younger than 60 years. Long-term results focusing on the effect of the degree of response on survival and relapse pattern after transplantation

Background and Objectives. From 1994 to 1997 we conducted a population-based, prospective study on intensive therapy in newly diagnosed symptomatic myeloma patients younger than 60 years, comparing their survival to that of a conventionally treated historic population. Long-term results are presented, including the impact of the degree of response on survival and relapse pattern after transplantation. Design and Methods. The prospective population was formed of 397 patients and the historic population of 313 patients. Both populations were calculated to comprise more than 75% of the expected number of new cases. Results. After a median follow-up of 7 years survival was longer in the prospective population than in the historic one (median 60 versus 39 months; p=0.0002). When comparing only patients eligible for intensive therapy the median survival was 63 versus 44 months (p < 0.0001). Attaining a complete response was associated with prolonged event-free survival but not overall survival. The pattern of relapse after transplantation was heterogeneous but could be divided into four major groups; insidious, classical, plasmacytoma form and transformed disease. The median survival after relapse was 29 months. The relapse pattern and time to relapse predicted outcome. Patients relapsing with an insidious or classical form of disease with skeletal events only, or after a long lasting first response were likely to respond well to conventional salvage therapy. In contrast, relapse with multiple symptoms, transformed disease or a short duration of first response implied bad prognosis. Interpretation and conclusions. The relapse pattern after autologous transplantation is heterogeneous and response to salvage therapy is variable. The degree of response and event-free survival after transplantation are not reliable surrogate markers for survival

Melphalan and prednisone plus thalidomide or placebo in elderly patients with multiple myeloma

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 363 patients with untreated multiple myeloma were randomized to receive either melphalan-prednisone and thalidomide (MPT) or melphalan-prednisone and placebo (MP). The dose of melphalan was 0.25 mg/kg and prednisone was 100 mg given daily for 4 days every 6 weeks until plateau phase. The dose of thalidomide/placebo was escalated to 400 mg daily until plateau phase and thereafter reduced to 200 mg daily until progression. A total of 357 patients were analyzed. Partial response was 34% and 33%, and very good partial response or better was 23% and 7% in the MPT and MP arms, respectively (P < .001). There was no significant difference in progression-free or overall survival, with median survival being 29 months in the MPT arm and 32 months in the MP arm. Most quality of life outcomes improved equally in both arms, apart from constipation, which was markedly increased in the MPT arm. Constipation, neuropathy, non-neuropathy neurologic toxicity, and skin reactions were significantly more frequent in the MPT arm. The number of thromboembolic events was equal in the 2 treatment arms. In conclusion, MPT had a significant antimyeloma effect, but this did not translate into improved survival. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00218855. (Blood. 2010;116(9):1405-1412

Serum insulinlike growth factor is not elevated in patients with multiple myeloma but is still a prognostic factor

Insulinlike growth factor. 1 (IGF-1) has growth-promoting effects on myeloma cells in vitro as well as in vivo. In this study, we measured the concentration of IGF-1 and its major binding protein, IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), in serum from 127 patients with multiple myeloma. Serum had been drawn at the time of diagnosis, before treatment With highdose melphalan. IGFBP-3 in myeloma patients (1.6 +/- 0.73 mug/mL; mean +/- SD) was significantly decreased compared to healthy age- and sex-matched controls (2.2 +/- 0.42 mug/mL). However, IGFBP-3 had no prognostic value in this study. The mean IGF-1 level did not differ between myeloma patients (17.8 +/- 7.7 nM) and controls (17.3 +/- 5.6 nM). Nevertheless, IGF-1 was a strong indicator of prognosis. After 80 months of follow-up, myeloma patients with low levels (< 13 nM) of serum IGF-1 had not reached median survival. In the patient group with IGF-1 levels above 13 nM, median survival was 62 months (P =.006). These findings support the hypothesis of a role for IGF-1 in myeloma disease progression