Treatment of multiple myeloma based on autologous stem cell transplant: An overview of systematic reviews.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant plasma cell disease. In recent years, several systematic reviews, and meta-analyses have been published on treatment protocols, including autologous stem cell transplantation for MM.

Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched to systematically summarize the quality of the methodology and evidence of meta-analyses regarding treatment of MM including autologous stem cell transplantation.

Results: Total 11 meta-analyses were included. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses evaluation revealed that the quality of included reviews was affected by possible unevaluated bias between studies and the lack of protocol and registration. The AMSTAR2 scale indicated that the quality of the methodology of included reviews ranged from very low to moderate. The grading, assessment, development, and evaluation of recommendations evaluation showed that among the included outcome indicators, most of them are of low quality.

Conclusion: This overview suggested that the combination of drugs has improved patient survival rates, efficacy and safety compared with the standard regimen. However, the strength of the evidence is uneven and due to methodological errors, the results should be interpreted with caution in order to provide a reference for further improvement of the study design. The methodological quality of the relevant meta-analysis needs to be further improved.