The primary objectives of this study are:
- To determine the 2 year-progression free survival in multiple myeloma with an allogeneic transplant using a conditioning regimen of melphalan + fludarabine + Bortezomib in patients < 60 years of age and available HLA-matched donor and compare it with the 2 year-progression-free-survival after an autologous stem cell transplant with melphalan+Bortezomib conditioning in patients < 60 years.
- To determine the 2 year-progression free survival in multiple myeloma with an autologous stem cell transplant using a conditioning regimen of melphalan + Bortezomib. for patients > 60 years of age and patients < 60 years of age who decline allogeneic stem cell transplant.
The secondary objectives of this study are:
- To determine the overall survival in multiple myeloma with autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplants using the above conditioning regimens
- To determine the response rates in multiple myeloma using the above regimens.
- To determine minimal residual disease status using allele specific oligonucleotides (ASO-PCR) by PCR and flow-cytometry for multiple myeloma cells.
- To correlate minimal residual disease status with 2 year progression free survival and overall survival.
- To determine the incidence of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in multiple myeloma with allogeneic stem cell transplant using the above conditioning regimen.
- To examine quality of life in patients treated with allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplants using the above conditioning regimen.