A patient with progressive multiple myeloma treated successfully with arsenic trioxide after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable progressive disease. Many therapeutic options are available to delay progression, including autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. At advanced stages, MM is often refractory to treatment. We report a heavily pretreated patient with graft-versus-host disease after bone marrow transplantations, treated at a terminal stage with a modified protocol for arsenic trioxide (ATO). This patient with poor clinical status tolerated the treatment very well. He had a remarkable clinical response and achieved complete remission. The mechanisms of ATO are presented and the potential role of ATO for MM is discussed.