Multiple Myeloma Cancer Treatment Shows Incredible Success Rate

First Posted: Feb 05, 2016 12:14 PM EST

A team of scientists from the University of Montreal has developed a therapeutic procedure used to treat multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the bone marrow, and a normally incurable disease when using conventional chemotherapy. The team was partnered with the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.

Led by Dr. Jean Roy, a professor and haematologist, the study saw 92 participants that were newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma from 2001 to 2010. The approach they used consisted of an autograft, a bone or tissue transplant taken from the patient's own body, in order to reduce tumor mass. Then, after three to four months, the patients would receive a family allograft - a tissue transplant from a family donor - which planned to "cleanse" the bone marrow of myeloma cells, with the family member's immune cells acting as cleansers.

This method saw a success rate of 41 percent, a record level of curing with this strategy. Additionally, patients who were in complete remission after six months had a relapse-free survival rate of 60 percent, according to a news release. This rate is impressive considering that normally, the five-year survival rate for those diagnosed is around 47 percent, with the rate dropping as the patient ages (the medium age of diagnosis is 69), according to Cancer.net. The average life expectancy is six to seven years.

"In many hospitals, doctors have abandoned the use of allografts for multiple myeloma due to the risk of toxicity and relapse. Our results, on the other hand, have led us to offer the treatment to more patients, especially younger patients and those with poorer prognoses," said Roy. The autograft-allograft strategy has resulted in a 20 to 25 percent relapse-free survival rate long term.

The patients in this study saw a mortality rate of only 10 percent, and although the relapse rate was 50 percent, more than half of those who relapses were alive five years after their relapse.

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TagsMultiple Myeloma, myeloma, therapeutic technique, University of Montreal, Jean Roy, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, Haemotology, Autografts, Allografts, Cancer, Cancer Treatment, Bone Marrow cancer