Multiple myeloma chemotherapy drugs

Drugs in chemotherapy and what is chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is the treatment with potent drugs aimed at the removal of bone marrow mielomatosas cells. Chemotherapy works damaging cells and thus avoiding divide and reproduce.

The drugs used in chemotherapy attack the body cells that divide rapidly such as myeloma cells, but can also affect other body cells that divide quickly such as bone marrow, hair follicles and oral and gastric mucosal.

This means that, unfortunately, chemotherapy can have side effects. The type of chemotherapy prescribed for each patient’s myeloma depends on the individual case and whatever is most appropriate for the individual and for the treatment of the disease at any one time.

What chemotherapy treatments available?

When you start a treatment for active myeloma, the first decision to be taken is the plan or not a stem cell transplant or if this paragraph as a future option.
The treatment regimen most common when planning a future transplant is the combination of drugs known as VAD or those like VAMP, C-VAD or C-VAMP. These combinations include drugs for oral administration and others of intravenous administration. Each of the letters of the earlier combinations represents a different drug, in the case of the VAD, for example, represent the Adriamycin, vincristine, dexamethasone. This regime is often offered to younger patients, but it unfortunately tends to a greater number of side effects.

The combinations of drugs of the type of melphalan and prednisolone and cyclophosphamide are used if a subsequent transplant is not expected. The advantages of the latter group is that drugs can be taken orally instead of intravenous and generally have fewer side effects than the previous ones.

There are new combinations, sometimes within clinical studies, which incorporate thalidomide and VELCADE ® and that can be administered in both groups of patients.

There are other less common types of chemotherapy that include combinations of ESHAP and DT-PACE can be used in certain individual cases in which previous combinations may be contraindicated.

In the following table you can find a list of standard chemotherapies and new combinations used in the treatment of myeloma.

* The original name of Velcade ® was PS341