{
  "abstract": "Background/Objectives: Dexamethasone has long served as the cornerstone of therapy for multiple myeloma; however, its optimal dosing remains ill-defined, particularly when balanced against its profound toxicity profile. Recent therapeutic advances have consequently intensified interest in steroid dose-reduction strategies. This retrospective, multicenter study aimed to evaluate the impact of varied dexamethasone dosing regimens on clinical outcomes within a real-world setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study across 11 Hungarian centers, enrolling 272 patients with multiple myeloma who received lenalidomide–dexamethasone therapy. Treating physicians determined dosing strategies at their discretion for each patient. We retrospectively stratified patients into three cohorts based on their prescribed weekly dexamethasone dose: 40 mg, 20 mg, and less than 20 mg. Results: We observed a distinct interaction between patient age and weekly dexamethasone dose. Nonetheless, we detected no statistically significant difference in progression-free survival (PFS) among the three dosing cohorts (p = 0.632). Similarly, dexamethasone dose intensity demonstrated no significant association with overall treatment response (p = 0.560). Subgroup analysis restricted to patients with high-risk cytogenetics also showed no significant disparities in PFS (p = 0.312). Furthermore, early treatment response rates at 2 and 6 months were also independent of the dexamethasone dose. Notably, grade 3–5 adverse events were numerically more frequent in the 40 mg group. The lack of significant differences in these outcome measures is particularly important, given the baseline age imbalances among the cohorts. Conclusions: Lower initial dexamethasone dose was not associated with statistically significant differences in progression-free survival or treatment response in this retrospective cohort. Although Grade 3–5 adverse events were numerically more frequent in the 40 mg group, these observations warrant further investigation in prospective studies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Internal Medicine and Haematology, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary",
    "Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, South Pest Central Hospital, National Institute for Hematology and Infectious Diseases, 1097 Budapest, Hungary",
    "Somogy County Kaposi Mór Teaching Hospital, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary",
    "Hematology, Veszprém-Csolnoky Ferenc County Hospital, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary",
    "Markusovszky University Teaching Hospital, 9700 Szombathely, Hungary",
    "Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén Central County University Teaching Hospital, 3526 Miskolc, Hungary",
    "National Institute of Oncology, 1122 Budapest, Hungary",
    "1st Department of Internal Medicine, University of Pécs, 7624 Pécs, Hungary",
    "2nd Department of Medicine and Cardiology Center, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary",
    "Department of Hematology, Institute for Medicine, Clinical Center, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 24,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lili Korpás"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ádám Wiedemann"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Fruzsina Szél"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Szabolcs Svorenj"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Júlia Weisinger"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zsolt Nagy"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zsuzsanna Szemlaky"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zoltán Csukly"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Péter Reményi",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-9664-9067"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Péter Rajnics"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Elvira Altai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Márk Plander"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Krisztina Kórád"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Erika Szaleczky"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "András Masszi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Szabolcs Kosztolányi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Hussain Alizadeh",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4609-487X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Szabolcs Modok"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Zita Borbényi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Szilvia Lovas"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "László Váróczy"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tamás Masszi",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2322-9863"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gábor Mikala"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gergely Varga",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6875-056X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5rn1chen2ma0q.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/cancers18213565",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5rn1chen2ma0q",
  "issns": [
    "2072-6694"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/21/3565",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-06",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5rn1chen2ma0q.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T12:21:21Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/cancers18213565",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/21/3565"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:2072-6694",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Lower Dexamethasone Dose in Multiple Myeloma: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis",
  "title_text": "Lower Dexamethasone Dose in Multiple Myeloma: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T00:23:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5rn1chen2ma0q",
  "venue": "Cancers",
  "versions": []
}