Xiaoping Liu, Colin K He, Xiangyu Meng, Li He, Kaili Li, Qing Liang, Liang Shao, Shangqin Liu

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of bortezomib-based vs non-bortezomib-based post-transplantation therapy in patients with multiple myeloma. Data of relevant randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of bortezomib as post-transplantation consolidation or maintenance therapy was obtained through a comprehensive search. The outcome measures included response rate, progression-free survival, overall survival, and adverse events (AEs). The hazard ratio (HR), Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were applied to evaluate the effect of bortezomib in relation to the end points such as progression-free survival, overall survival, response rate, and AEs. Three randomized controlled trials comprising 1,518 participants were included in this study. Pooled ORs for the rates of overall response, and complete response and near complete response, were 1.85 and 1.75, respectively. Pooled HR for progression-free survival favored bortezomib-based therapy over non-bortezomib-based therapy (0.73, 95% CI: 0.67-0.81), while no statistically significant difference could be found between the two groups regarding the pooled HR for 3-year overall survival. Moreover, incidence rates of overall adverse events and grade 3 and 4 peripheral neuropathy were similar in the bortezomib-based groups and the non-bortezomib-based groups (P=0.12 and P=0.41, respectively). The corresponding cumulative meta-analyses of the rates of overall response rate, complete response and near complete response, and grades 3 and 4 peripheral neuropathy supported the superiority of bortezomib-based maintenance therapy over consolidation therapy. Bortezomib-based therapy after autologous stem cell transplantation, with tolerable AEs, could obviously improve the response as well as the outcome of multiple myeloma patients, particularly when bortezomib was administered as maintenance therapy.