 In arm A1, patients received 4 cycles of conventional induction therapy with anthracyclinedexamethasone-based regimens. Specified in the protocol were vincristinedoxorubicindexamethasone VAD, idarubicindexamethasone ID and cyclophosphamidedoxorubicindexamethasone CAD. In arm A2, patients were planned to receive only dexamethasone 40 mg orally on days 1-4 and 8-11 for symptom control before stem cell mobilization. For the patients in arm B, a maximum of 6 cycles of induction chemotherapy was allowed. Following this, the treatment was identical for all patients. For stem cell mobilization, an age-adjusted IEV-regimen with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor G-CSF was recommended. The target dose for stem cell collection was 6 x 10E6 CD34 cluster of differentiation 34-positive cellskg 2 transplants and one back-up. The standard dose for each transplantation was 2 x 10E6 CD34-positive cellskg. High-dose melphalan at a total dose of 140 mgm2 MEL140 was given in two doses of 70 mgm2 on days -3 and -2. Stem cell transplantation SCT was performed on day 0. A second MEL140 course was planned two months after the first. Regular bisphosphonate treatment was recommended. 