Comparison of two therapeutic regimes, lenalidomide with dexamethasone and thalidomide with dexamethasone, in the treatment of multiple myeloma at a tertiary care hospital in India

Background: Multiple myeloma accounts for 1% of all neoplastic disorders and 10% of all haematological malignancies. Drugs like thalidomide, lenalidomide and bortezomib have emerged as active drugs in the treatment of multiple myeloma.There are few studies which have compared thalidomide-dexamethasone (thal/dex) and lenalidomide-dexamethasone (len/dex) in the treatment of multiple myeloma in Indian scenario Aim: To compare the efficacy and the adverse events observed with thalidomide-dexamethasone and lenalidomide-dexamethasone in the treatment of newly diagnosed cases of multiple myeloma. Settings and Design: Observational Study conducted in tertiary care centre. Materials and Methods: The case record files of patients from the year January 2006 to July 2011 with diagnosis of multiple myeloma were studied. Statistical Analysis: Primarily Descriptive. Results: There was no significant difference between thal/dex and len/dex treatment groups with respect to efficacy and safety in our study. Conclusion: Studies with larger sample size and a longer follow up to compare efficacy and safety of thal/dex and len/dex in treatment of multiple myeloma are required to be carried out to provide significant results.