Thalidomide

A Mayo Clinic study is the first to show that for some patients with early stage multiple myeloma, the drug thalidomide may effectively delay the need for chemotherapy or more aggressive treatment for as much as two years. Multiple myeloma is an incurable cancer of the bone marrow. The final results of the nonrandomized phase II clinical trial were published today in the April issue of the journal Leukemia. Because of the promising indications, preliminary findings were released about a year ago.