Clinical Efficacy of Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin, Vincristine and Dexamethasone in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

Object: To investigate the short-term and long-term efficacy and toxicity of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, vincristine and dexamethasone (DVD) in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM).

Methods: Twenty-five patients (13 males, 12 females, median age 55 years) with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma were treated with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin 40 mg/m² and vincristine 2 mg intravenously on day 1 plus dexamethasone 40 mg intravenously or orally on days 1–4 (DVD) for median 4.5 (2–8) cycles. Treatment was repeated every 4 weeks. Response was evaluated according to the International Uniform Response Criteria for Multiple Myeloma (2006) before initiation of each course. Adverse events were graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria, version 3.0.

Results: After 4.5 (2–8) courses of the median cycles, clinical response was observed in 20 patients (80%), including complete response in 4 (16%), very good partial response in 3 (12%), partial response in 10 (40%), minimal response in 3 (12%) and stable disease in 2 (8%). The median time to initial response was 1.2 months and the median time to best response was 4 months. After 25 (2–50) months of median follow-up, the median progression-free survival was 20 months, while the median overall survival has not yet been reached. The overall survival rate was 72% (18/25). The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea and vomiting in 10, constipation in 9 patients), neutropenia (7 patients), anemia (6 patients) and thrombocytopenia (4 patients). DVD was associated with more hand-foot syndrome (4 patients) and mucitis (2 patients).

Conclusions: DVD scheme is an effective therapy with a high response rate and manageable toxicities for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.