[Possibility of complete recovery in multiple myeloma]

In three patients with multiple myeloma, stage IIIA, a complete remission lasting from 6 to 8 years was attained, in spite of the fact that not all of them received treatment. In the latter case the remission lasted from 5 to 6 years. One of the patients had diffuse Gk + BIk myeloma, one presented with multiple focal one with protein BIk production, and one patient had multiple focal myeloma with spinal cord compression and complete lower paraplegia without verified secretion of monoclonal immunoglobulin. The times of therapy until the attainment of a complete remission were 3,5 and 13 years, whereas the total survival amounted to 9, 5 and 20 years since the appearance of the first disease symptoms. Sarcolysine was employed as the basic cytostatic agent in all the cases. Annual control examinations of the patients in a state of remission have not revealed any signs of myeloma. One patient is manifesting osteolytic deficiencies, however biopsy withdrawn from the focus of osteolysis have not shown any tumor. Immunochemical assay of serum and urine has failed to detect paraprotein, blood immunoglobulins have been discovered to be within normal. The author analyses 4 similar cases reported in literature. It is assumed that it would be premature to regard the patients described above as completely recovered from the biological standpoint and that it would be more wise to consider such cases as prolonged and fairly profound remissions.