Adriamycin (NSC-123127) in the treatment of alkylator-resistant multiple myeloma: a pilot study

Adriamycin was given in a dose of 25-45 mg/m2 of body surface area to nine patients with multiple myeloma who had failed to respond to intermittent therapy with melphalan and prednisone. Three patients had evidence of clinical remission and in two of them there was a 60% decrease in total body myeloma cell number. However, remissions were of short duration (3 months in two patients and over 10 months in another patient) and bone marrow suppression was moderately severe. Adriamycin may prove more useful in myeloma therapy when combined with melphalan or cyclophosphamide during the initial attempt at remission induction.