COMy 2021 | Young myeloma: treatment algorithm

Muzaffar Qazilbash, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, discusses the treatment process for young multiple myeloma patients. The standard treatment process starts with induction treatment, which is followed by autologous stem cell transplant, and then maintenance treatment. Dr Qazilbash compares the benefits and risks of VRd (bortezomib, lenalidomide, dexamethasone) and KRd (carfilzomib, lenalidomide, dexamethasone) as induction treatments, and explains why VRd is still the standard induction treatment. Dr Qazilbash also compares the use of busulfan plus melphalan versus melphalan alone as a conditioning treatment before stem cell transplant. The most commonly used maintenance treatment following the transplant is single agent lenalidomide. In high-risk patients Dr Qazilbash recommends the use of proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib or carfilzomib, along with lenalidomide as a maintenance treatment. This interview took place during the 7th World Congress on Controversies in Multiple Myeloma (COMy), 2021.