As reported in The Lancet, Dr. Thierry Facon, from Hopital Claude Huriez in Lille, France, and colleagues assessed survival in 447 previously untreated patients, between 65 and 75 years of age, who were treated with standard chemotherapy, either alone or combined with thalidomide, or with bone marrow transplantation. The subjects were followed for about 51 months.

Patients treated with thalidomide survived roughly 13 to 18 months longer than did other patients, the investigators found. Overall, treatment with thalidomide cut the risk of death by 41 and 31 percent compared with standard chemotherapy alone and transplantation, respectively.

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