200 mg/day Thalidomide + 90 mg Pamidronate OR 4 mg Zometa every 2 weeks for 2 months and then every 4 weeks as maintenance therapy

Patients will receive either pamidronate or zometa. Pamidronate is administered at a dose of 90 mg by continuous infusion over 90 minutes, every two weeks for 2 months. Disease will be reassessed after two cycles. Those with stable disease or better will receive 90 mg every 4 weeks as maintenance therapy.

Best response to study treatment as defined by protocol-specific response criteria:

Complete Response (CR) = absence of urine and serum M-components by immunofixation; bone marrow should be adequately cellular (>20%) with <1% monoclonal plasma cells by DNA-clg flow cytometry; serum calcium level must be normal; no new bone lesions nor enlargement of existing lesions; Normalization of serum concentrations of normal immunoglobulins is not required for CR. Partial Response (PR) = Reduction by > 75% in serum myeloma protein production; Decrease in monoclonal marrow plasmacytosis to <5%; Decrease in Bence-Jones proteinuria by >90%; No new lytic bone lesions or soft tissue plasmacytoma.

Treatment Failures/Progressive Disease (PD) = Such patients do not fulfill the above criteria and/or have new lytic lesions (but not compression fractures), hypercalcemia, or other new manifestations of disease.

200 mg/day Thalidomide + 90 mg Pamidronate OR 4 mg Zometa every 2 weeks for 2 months and then every 4 weeks as maintenance therapy

Best response to study treatment as defined by protocol-specific response criteria:

Complete Response (CR) = absence of urine and serum M-components by immunofixation; bone marrow should be adequately cellular (>20%) with <1% monoclonal plasma cells by DNA-clg flow cytometry; serum calcium level must be normal; no new bone lesions nor enlargement of existing lesions; Normalization of serum concentrations of normal immunoglobulins is not required for CR. Partial Response (PR) = Reduction by > 75% in serum myeloma protein production; Decrease in monoclonal marrow plasmacytosis to <5%; Decrease in Bence-Jones proteinuria by >90%; No new lytic bone lesions or soft tissue plasmacytoma.

Treatment Failures/Progressive Disease (PD) = Such patients do not fulfill the above criteria and/or have new lytic lesions (but not compression fractures), hypercalcemia, or other new manifestations of disease.

200 mg/day Thalidomide + 90 mg Pamidronate OR 4 mg Zometa every 2 weeks for 2 months and then every 4 weeks as maintenance therapy