Interferon-α as maintenance therapy in patients with multiple myeloma

Background: The effect of interferon-a. 2b (IFN-alpha-2b) on progression-free and overall survival as well as quality of life (QoL) was studied in mainly elderly patients with multiple myEloma (MM), who reached a plateau phase after melphalan/prednisone induction. Patients and methods: In an open phase III trial, 262 patients, median age 69 years (range 34-91), received at least 10 monthly courses of melphalan/prednisone followed by response evaluation. Plateau phase was reached by 128 patients. Next, 90 patients were randomized between IFN-alpha-2b and no maintenance therapy. Reasons for non-randomization were: refusal (18), concomitant disease (nine), protocol violation (six), WHO performance status >2 (four) and allogeneic transplantation (one) Results: At a median follow-up from diagnosis of 97 months (0-140) for those patients alive, IFN-a-2b therapy was associated with improved progression-free survival (median 13.5 versus 8.4 months from randomization), although this did not translate in a better overall survival (41 versus 38.4 months). One-third of patients discontinued IFN-alpha due to toxicity. No differences were observed between patient groups in QoL. Conclusions: IFN maintenance therapy in MM prolongs progression-free survival and, provided that the burden of toxicity is not too high, does not adversely affect QoL.