Patients with newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) may be treated using monthly cycles of dexamethasone plus thalidomide (DT). Unfortunately, the use of conventional doses of DT is associated with significant treatment-related morbidity and mortality, which is comparable to that observed with conventional chemotherapy. Hence, for safety reasons, patients frequently receive lower than conventional doses of DT (i.e. dt), and potentially experience a poorer anti-MM effect. The highly-potent aminobisphosphonate, zoledronic acid (Z), has been shown in pre-clinical mouse models to exhibit an impressive anti-MM effect. It is therefore possible to combined dt with Z (i.e. dtZ) to enhance the efficacy of (lower dose) dt. In addition, the anti-tumor effect of dtZ may potentially be augmented by using Z at a higher (three-weekly) dosing frequency.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether lower than conventional doses of dexamethasone and thalidomide; and a higher dosing frequency of zoledronic acid are effective in the treatment of newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma.