Understanding Thalidomide Therapy
Thalidomide is an oral drug that was first used for the treatment of patients with myeloma in 1997. It was the first immunomodulatory agent approved by the FDA for myeloma. Currently, thalidomide is used infrequently in the U.S., but it is still sometimes used during late-stage disease, in cases of renal failure, when the patient has low blood counts, as induction therapy or consolidation therapy, and in the maintenance setting.