Thalidomide: present and future in multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma continues to be an incurable disease. The understanding of the disease's pathophysiology has significantly improved over the past few years, partly due to the discovery of the role of immunomodulatory agents and the study of their mechanism of action. Thalidomide, the first of the immunomodulatory family to be used in the management of multiple myeloma, proved not only to be effective in the treatment of multiple myeloma, but also instigated a wide range of in vitro and in vivo studies to define the pathophysiology of the plasma cell dyscrasia. The attention thalidomide has received in the past and recent history has not been without a price. The drug has a side-effect profile that, if managed appropriately, provides the most unique active molecule in the management of the disease, where it maintains the same response rate in newly diagnosed patients as in advanced relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients.