[Multiple myeloma].

Progress in the treatment of multiple myeloma can be considered from several points of view: (1) advent of new therapeutic agents and regimens; (2) the differentiation from variant forms; and (3) the prevention or early treatment of myeloma-associated complications. The author have discussed the following problems connected with the treatment of myeloma patients st 4 to 1988, including (1) ten-year survival in multiple myeloma; (2) complete remission in multiple myeloma; (3) complete remission in primary plasma cell leukemia; (4) systemic amyloidosis in multiple myeloma as the presenting symptom; (5) treatments for patients resistant to standard therapies; (6) treatments and courses of patients with IgD myeloma; (7) multiple myeloma in the aged; (8) treatments for patients with primary extramedullary plasmacytoma; (9) long-term observation of a patient with smoldering multiple myeloma; (10) the outcome of idiopathic Bence Jones proteinuria and (11) supportive therapies for multiple myeloma. Since the introduction of melphalan and cyclophosphamide more than two decades ago, progress in the treatment of multiple myeloma has been slow. To overstep the limits in the current chemotherapy, therapeutic strategies for individual cases should be exploited by understanding their biological properties.