Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of multiple myeloma 2005

In 2001, guidelines for the diagnosis and management of myeloma were published by the Guidelines Working Group of the UK Myeloma Forum (UKMF) on behalf of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) (UK Myeloma Forum; British Committee for Standards in Haematology, 2001). That same year, the second edition of guidelines prepared by the Nordic Myeloma Study Group (NMSG) in 1995 was issued (in the Scandinavian languages; http:// www.myeloma-nordic.org). As both sets of guidelines were intended to be evidence based, it was reassuring to note that the recommendations were similar. Subsequently, informal contact between members of the two groups led to the decision to prepare these common, updated guidelines. These revised and updated guidelines include new sections on imaging and the management of skeletal disease, cover new developments in disease classification and staging and the use of new therapeutic approaches, such as thalidomide, bortezomib and reduced-intensity allogeneic transplantation. The guidelines are presented in specific sections as follows