SynthesisJournal of the National Cancer Institute2016
Maintenance Therapy With Immunomodulatory Drugs in Multiple Myeloma: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk for second primary malignancies in patients with multiple myeloma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Lenalidomide Maintenance After Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2017Pooled it
- Real-world efficacy of Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor based maintenance therapy in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a multicenter retrospective cohort study with external historical control.Cancer biology & therapy · 2026Article
- Efficacy of Interventions for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma: An Umbrella Review.Journal of clinical & experimental oncology · 2025Article
- Efficacy of maintenance or consolidation therapy for multiple myeloma based on proteasome inhibitors: a meta-analysis.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Cardio-Oncology and Heart Failure: a Scientific Statement From the Heart Failure Society of America.Journal of cardiac failure · 2025Review
- Long-term outcomes of busulfan plus melphalan-based versus melphalan 200 mg/mCancer cell international · 2021Review
- Vancomycin Intoxication and Cefepime-induced Encephalopathy Treated by Abdominal Drainage of Massive Ascites in Addition to Online Hemodiafiltration.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2021Article
- Maintenance therapy for untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Therapeutic advances in hematology · 2021Article
- Cardiovascular Toxicity of Targeted Therapies for Cancer: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2020Article
- The use of single armed observational data to closing the gap in otherwise disconnected evidence networks: a network meta-analysis in multiple myeloma.BMC medical research methodology · 2018Article
- Long-Term Efficacy of Maintenance Therapy for Multiple Myeloma: A Quantitative Synthesis of 22 Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2018Article
- Fixed duration vs continuous therapy in multiple myeloma.Hematology. American Society of Hematology. Education Program · 2017Review
- A case of lenalidomide-dependent myelodysplastic syndrome.Blood advances · 2017Article
- Monitoring multiple myeloma by next-generation sequencing of V(D)J rearrangements from circulating myeloma cells and cell-free myeloma DNA.Haematologica · 2017Article
- Upfront use of plerixafor and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) for stem cell mobilization in patients with multiple myeloma: efficacy and analysis of risk factors associated with poor stem cell collection efficiency.Leukemia & lymphoma · 2017Article
- Multiple myeloma presenting with bilateral ankle pain (microangiopathy) and complicated by streptococcal meningitis and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.BMJ case reports · 2017Article
- Elotuzumab for the treatment of multiple myeloma.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2016Review
- Consolidation and Maintenance Therapies for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma in the Era of Novel Agents.Current hematologic malignancy reports · 2016Review
- Best Practice for the Administration of Daratumumab in Multiple Myeloma: Australian Myeloma Nurse Expert Opinion.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundImmunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) and proteasome inhibitors have dramatically changed management of multiple myeloma (MM). While MM remains incurable, consolidation and maintenance therapy aimed at improving duration of response can potentially improve survival outcomes. A majority of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated benefit of IMiD-based maintenance therapy in delaying disease progression; however, whether this therapy can lead to improved survival remains controversial.
methodsPubMed and abstract databases of major hematology and/or oncology meetings were searched for RCTs that studied maintenance therapy with IMiDs in MM. A meta-analysis was conducted to systematically evaluate the impact of IMiD-based maintenance therapy on survival outcomes and serious adverse events associated with the therapy. All statistical tests were two-sided.
resultsEighteen phase 3 RCTs enrolling 7730 patients were included. IMiD-based maintenance therapy statistically significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.57 to 0.67, P < .001) but failed to improve overall survival (OS; HR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.85 to 1.01, P = .082). Stratified analyses demonstrated that both thalidomide and lenalidomide provided PFS but not OS benefit in transplantation as well as nontransplantation settings. IMiD-based maintenance therapy in MM led to a higher risk of grade 3-4 thromboembolism (risk ratio = 2.52, 95% CI = 1.41 to 4.52, P = .002). Thalidomide maintenance therapy increased the risk of peripheral neuropathy; lenalidomide maintenance therapy increased the risks of myelosuppression and second primary hematological malignancies.
conclusionsThalidomide- or lenalidomide-based maintenance therapy improves PFS but not OS in MM and increases risks of grade 3-4 adverse events, including thromboembolism, peripheral neuropathy, neutropenia, and infection.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.