To assess the impact of CR on survival in multiple myeloma. Retrospective evaluation of response and survival among 758 consecutive patients with multiple myeloma treated at a single center, of whom 395 patients received intensive therapy supported by autologous stem cells within the first year. Survival times were calculated after 1 and 2 years from the start of chemotherapy. On the basis of the response status after a 2-year landmark, the subsequent median survival was 9.7 years for patients with CR, 4.4 years for those with PR and 2.7 years for patients with NR (P<0.001).

We hypothesized that exposure to
hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) would mobilize stem/progenitor cells
from the bone marrow by a nitric oxide (
NO) -dependent mechanism.
The population of CD34
cells in the peripheral circulation of humans
doubled in response to a single exposure to 2.0 atmospheres absolute
(ATA) O2 for 2 h. Over a course of 20 treatments, circulating CD34

cells increased eightfold, although the overall circulating white cell
count was not significantly increased. The number of colony-forming

We hypothesized that exposure to
hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) would mobilize stem/progenitor cells
from the bone marrow by a nitric oxide (
NO) -dependent mechanism.
The population of CD34
cells in the peripheral circulation of humans
doubled in response to a single exposure to 2.0 atmospheres absolute
(ATA) O2 for 2 h. Over a course of 20 treatments, circulating CD34

cells increased eightfold, although the overall circulating white cell
count was not significantly increased. The number of colony-forming

I've been logging on to myeloma listservs for years- http://beating-myeloma.or..., mmsupport.org and the acor myeloma listserv.  Peripheral blood stem cell transplants are frequently discussed.  The majority of the discussion is how well they work against multiple myeloma. There is also discussion of doing two transplants- a tandem transplant.

From the Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.

Supported in part by grants CA62242, CA85818, CA93842, and CA100080 from the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

Individual reprints of this article are not available. Address correspondence to S. Vincent Rajkumar, MD, Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 (rajkumar.vincent@mayo.edu).