Patients Starting Treatment:

The administration of chemotherapy at doses higher than that used with conventional chemotherapy are often used in the treatment of myeloma. This type of chemotherapy is referred to as high-dose chemotherapy. Though more effective in killing myeloma cells than conventional chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy also destroys normal blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. Because a person cannot survive without these blood-forming cells, high-dose chemotherapy is always administered in conjunction with a stem cell transplant, which replaces these important cells.

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation is used after a patient receives induction therapy (initial treatment) to reduce the tumor burden. It is often used in younger patients with a good prognosis. Depending on the type of cancer and other factors, some patients may receive one or more treatments of high-dose chemotherapy, possibly in combination with radiation therapy, over a period of several days. This combination of treatments is also referred to as a conditioning regimen. Because this regimen is more intensive than conventional chemotherapy, it is used less frequently in patients over the age of 70, and may not be suitable for patients who have significantly impaired kidney function or performance status, or other coexisting conditions.