[Induction therapy of transplant-eligible patients in multiple myeloma]

There have been major advances in the past decade in induction therapy for transplantation-eligible multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Induction therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is the standard treatment for younger patients with MM. A high complete response rate has been achieved by three-drug induction regimens including novel agents both before and after ASCT without substantially increasing toxicity. A favorable response to therapy is a very important prognostic factor. This chapter reviews recent results on the most commonly used and tested doublet, triplet, quadruplet combinations for the treatment of newly diagnosed transplantation-eligible myeloma and provides guidance on choosing the optimal initial treatment regimen.