Comparison of tandem autotransplants with melphalan 200 mg/m² (as part of Total Therapy I) versus standard alkylating agent therapy administered under the auspices of SWOG.⁴³  Patients were matched by age (within 10 years), B2M (within 2 mg/L), and albumin (within 1 g/dL), major prognostic factors in SWOG trials. In a comparison of patients enrolled on Total Therapy I (TT I) and SWOG trials, no statistically significant differences were noted for the following characteristics: age 60 years or older (TT I, 26%; SWOG, 26%; P = .3); B2M 3 mg/L or more (TT I, 50%; SWOG, 47%; P = .3); albumin less than 3.5 g/dL (TT I, 24%; SWOG, 22%; P = .1); IgA isotype (TT I, 17%; SWOG, 18%; P = .9); creatinine 2 mg/L or more (TT I, 8%; SWOG, 11%; P = .2). TT I consisted of induction with the VAD regimen (vincristine, Adriamycin, dexamethasone) times 3 cycles; high-dose cyclophosphamide 6 g/m² plus granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) with subsequent peripheral blood stem cell collection, tandem autotransplantations with melphalan 200 mg/m² 3 to 6 months apart (in cases in which a partial response was not achieved after the first transplantation, melphalan 140 mg/m² plus total body irradiation [TBI] 8.5 Gy was administered), and interferon maintenance (median follow-up, 10 years). SWOG trials S8624, S9028, and S9210 were carried out from 1986 to 1997, contemporaneously with TT I (median follow-up, 9 years). Significantly superior overall survival (A) and event-free survival (B) were observed with TT I.