Carfilzomib/Cyclophosphamide/Dexamethasone with Maintenance Carfilzomib in Multiple Myeloma

The Cardamon study is looking for better ways to treat multiple myeloma, which is a cancer that affects the cells in your bone marrow. When someone is diagnosed with multiple myeloma and they are young and fit enough, the usual treatment starts with chemotherapy. This is often followed by a special procedure called a stem cell transplant, where doctors use your own healthy stem cells after high-dose chemotherapy. While this approach helps many people, unfortunately, the cancer often comes back after some time.

Recently, new and improved chemotherapy treatments have become available. These new drugs are much better at reducing the cancer and can lead to very good results, sometimes even making the cancer almost undetectable. Because these new treatments are so effective, doctors are now wondering if it's always best to have a stem cell transplant right after the first round of chemotherapy. It might be better to save the stem cells for later, perhaps if the cancer returns, and continue with drug treatment instead.

This study aims to answer that question. Patients will first receive the new drug combination (Carfilzomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone) and have their stem cells collected and stored. Then, they will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group will have the stem cell transplant straight away, and the other group will continue with more drug treatment (called consolidation therapy) instead of the transplant. All patients will then receive ongoing treatment to help prevent the cancer from coming back. By comparing these two approaches, the study hopes to find out which method gives patients the best chance of a long and healthy life.