The Treatment of Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma accounts for 10 percent of hematologic cancers and kills approximately 10,000 Americans each year. The disease is more common in older persons, and blacks are affected twice as frequently as whites. The cause of multiple myeloma is unknown, and its extent, complications, sensitivity to drugs, and clinical course vary widely among patients. Since many aspects of the biology of this disease have recently been discussed elsewhere,1 this review will focus on treatment.Solitary Bone MyelomaApproximately 3 percent of patients have only one bone lesion and no evidence of bone marrow plasmacytosis. Fifty percent of such patients have . . .