Myeloablative Treatments for Multiple Myeloma: Update of a Comparative Study of Different Regimens Used in Patients from the Spanish Registry for Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma

After a previous analysis that did not detect clear differences in the results of three conditioning regimens used for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients from the Spanish Registry for Transplant in Multiple Myeloma (MM), we have updated the registry, including a larger number of cases and a fourth conditioning regimen with a longer follow-up. We evaluate 472 MM patients treated with 200 mg/m 2 melphalan (MEL200), 135 patients treated with 140 mg/m 2 melphalan plus total body irradiation [(MEL140 + TBI)], 186 patients treated with 12 mg/kg busulphan plus 140 mg/m 2 melphalan (BUMEL) and 28 patients treated with 14 mg/kg busulphan followed by cyclophosphamide 120 mg/kg (BUCY). There were no significant differences in respect to either transplant related death or haematological recovery, regardless of growth factor use, between the four conditioning programs. Nevertheless, hospitalization time with MEL200 was less than with BUMEL when growth factors were used (19 ± 9 vs. ...