¹Department for Stem Cell Transplantation, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Correspondence: Professor Dr N Kröger, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: nkroeger@uke.uni-hamburg.de

Received 23 March 2007; Revised 20 April 2007; Accepted 26 April 2007; Published online 14 June 2007.

Abstract

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma after standard myeloablative conditioning induces a high rate of complete remissions, but long-term freedom from disease is achieved in 30–40% of the cases only. The therapeutic effect of allogeneic stem cell transplantation is due to cytotoxicity of high-dose chemotherapy and immune-mediated graft-versus-myeloma effect by donor T cells. Retrospective studies clearly suggest that both (a) reducing the intensity of high-dose chemotherapy by using reduced-intensity or non-myeloablative conditioning regimen or (b) reducing the immunotherapy of donor T cells by using T-cell depletion result in lower treatment-related morbidity and mortality, but also in higher rate of relapse. Therefore, this review will focus on potential strategies of how treatment-related morbidity and mortality might be kept low without an increased risk of relapse and how remission status after transplantation can be enhanced by using the newly established donor immunosystems after allografting as a platform for post-transplant treatment strategies with new drugs (thalidomide, lenalidomide, bortezomib) or immunotherapy (donor lymphocyte infusion, vaccination, tumor-specific T cells) in order to achieve remission on a molecular level, which seems to be a 'conditio sine qua non' to cure myeloma patients.