Table 1. Characteristics of patients.
| Group A (n = 78) | Group B (n = 74) | P | |
| Gender (%: M/F) | 60/40 | 50/50 | 0.25 |
| Age at 1st treatment (yrs: median, range) | 55 (33–64) | 53 (31–70) | 0.35 |
| Karnofsky (%: median, range) | 80 (70–100) | 85 (70–100) | 0.26 |
| Myeloma Type (%) | |||
| IgG | 66% | 60% | |
| IgA | 22% | 19% | 0.38 |
| Light chains | 12% | 21% | |
| Durie & Salmon stage (%) | |||
| I | 30% | 12% | |
| II | 23% | 18% | 0.013 |
| III | 47% | 70% | |
| Hemoglobin (g/dl: median, range) | 10.9 (6–16.2) | 10.9 (4.8–15.5) | 0.59 |
| Creatinine (mg/dl: median, range) | 1 (0.3–6.2) | 1 (0.6–4.9) | 0.42 |
| Calcium (mg/dl: median, range) | 9.8 (8.6–15.6) | 9.5 (8–17) | 0.21 |
| Skeletal lesions | 47% | 30% | 0.048 |
| Follow-up (years: median, range) | 3.3 (0.2–21) | 5 (0.1–16.4) | |
| Patients alive at the time of analysis | 3% | 24% |