Single daily dose of intravenous busulfan and melphalan as a conditioning regimen for patients with multiple myeloma undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation: a phase II trial.

We evaluated the toxicity and outcome of a conditioning regimen comprising intravenous (iv) busulfan (BU) and melphalan (MEL) in 55 patients (median age, 61 years; range, 34-71) with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT). In 49 patients, this was the first ASCT. At transplant, 3 patients were in complete response (CR), 8 in near CR (nCR) and 30 in partial response (PR). The conditioning regimen comprised ivBU (3.2 mg/kg in a single daily dose, days -5 to -3) and MEL (140 mg/m(2), day -2). Mucositis was the most frequent non-hematopoietic toxicity (47 patients). No patient developed sinusoidal occlusive syndrome. Febrile events were observed in 46 patients and were the cause of death in two (3.6%) transplant-related deaths. With a median follow-up of 15 months, 27 patients achieved CR/nCR (11 CR) and 21 a PR. The one-year actuarial overall and progression-free survival rates are 96% and 87%, respectively. This ivBU-containing regimen is associated with an acceptable toxicity and a high-response rate.