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High‐dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (auto‐SCT) is the standard treatment for young patient ≤65 years with multiple myeloma (MM). The role of auto‐SCT in elderly patients older than 70 years remains controversial in the era of novel agents and especially since the recent introduction of monoclonal antibodies (AbMo). In this study, we evaluated 12 patients with MM over 70 years old undergoing auto‐SCT (elderly graft cohort) in seven centers of GIMEMA Working Group Lazio. We compared the baseline characteristics, treatment and outcome with 97 MM elderly patients who did not receive auto‐SCT (nontransplant patients) from the same registry who were ≥ 70 years old, but did not undergo auto‐SCT. The median progression free survival (PFS) for graft versus no‐graft cohort was 56.4 versus 26.1 months, respectively. There was a trend for better PFS among graft compared to nontransplant patient (p =.1). On the other hand, the median overall survival for transplant versus nontransplant cohort was 107.6 versus 49.5 months (p =.02). Despite the small number of patients aged ≥70 years and ≤74 years, it seems that auto‐SCT is well tolerated, safe and effective. Therefore, we propose that it should be considered an important treatment option in the era of new drugs in elderly fit patients with MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Patient-reported physical functioning predicts the success of hematopoietic cell transplantation" by W.A. Wood and others in a 2016 issue.

The combination of elotuzumab, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (EloRd) enhanced the clinical benefit over Rd with a manageable toxicity profile in the ELOQUENT-2 trial, leading to its approval in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). The present study is a 3-year follow-up update of a previously published Italian real-life RRMM cohort of patients treated with EloRd. This revised analysis entered 319 RRMM patients accrued in 41 Italian centers. After a median follow-up of 36 months (range 6-55), 236 patients experienced disease progression or died. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 18.4 and 34 months, respectively. The updated multivariate analyses showed a significant reduction of PFS and OS benefit magnitude only in cases with International Staging System stage III. Major adverse events included grade 3/4 neutropenia (18.5%), anemia (15.4%), lymphocytopenia (12.5%), and thrombocytopenia (10.7%), while infection rates and pneumonia were 33.9% and 18.9%, respectively. No new safety signals with longer follow-up have been observed. Of 319 patients, 245 (76.7%) reached at least a partial remission. A significantly lower response rate was found in patients previously exposed to lenalidomide. In conclusion, our study confirms that EloRd is a safe and effective regimen for RRMM patients, maintaining benefits across multiple unfavorable subgroups., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)