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Efficacy of prednisone in refractory multiple myeloma and measurement of glucocorticoid receptors

A Southwest Oncology Group study

  • Phase II Studies
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Summary

Background: Prednisone is an active drug in the treatment of multiple myeloma. The optimal dose, frequency, and role of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) in response to prednisone is unknown.Purpose: The purposes of this study were (1) to estimate the response rate of alternate-day high dose prednisone in patients with relapsing and refractory multiple myeloma; (2) to measure the range of GR levels; and (3) to correlate the response of prednisone with GR status.Patients and methods: Between 8/86 and 1/90, 127 patients were entered onto the study with 121 evaluable for response. The number of GR sites/cell was determined on mononuclear cells isolated from pretreatment bone marrow aspirates using a one point GR binding assay. Patients received prednisone 100 mg po qod x 2 weeks, followed by 50 mg po qod x 10 weeks.Results: The overall response rate was 10% (95% CI: 5–15%) with a median survival of 11.8 months. The GR sites/cell ranged from 0–53,212 with a mean of 8,371 sites/cells. Stratification of GR sites into 0–2,500, 2,501–6,000 and > 6,000 sites/cells was associated with a response rate of 6%, 27% and 4% respectively (p = 0.009). The median survival of patients in these categories was 8.1, 14.9 and 10.6 months respectively. This was not significant by the logrank test (p = 0.11). Although myeloma patients with intermediate levels of GR sites/cell initially responded more favorably to prednisone, their long-term survival was not significantly improved.Conclusions: Alternate-day high-dose prednisone was well tolerated and may provide palliative benefit for a subset of patients with relapsing and refractory multiple myeloma. The survival of patients on this study was comparable to that reported with other but more toxic doses of glucocorticoids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

    Vicram Gupta, E. Brad Thompson & David Chilton

  2. Southwest Oncology Group Statistical Center, Seattle, WA

    Donna Stock-Novack & Jean Beckord

  3. University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ

    Sydney E. Salmon

  4. Northwest CCOP, Tacoma, WA

    H. Irving Pierce

  5. Scott & White Clinic, Temple, TX, USA

    John D. Bonnet

Authors
  1. Vicram Gupta
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  2. E. Brad Thompson
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  3. Donna Stock-Novack
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  4. Sydney E. Salmon
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  6. John D. Bonnet
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  7. David Chilton
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  8. Jean Beckord
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Gupta, V., Thompson, E.B., Stock-Novack, D. et al. Efficacy of prednisone in refractory multiple myeloma and measurement of glucocorticoid receptors. Invest New Drugs 12, 121–128 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874441

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