Bortezomib Regimens Effective for Amyloidosis

Patients with untreated amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis have a poor prognosis; most die within 3 years of diagnosis because of cardiac, renal, and other organ involvement. Alkylating agents, steroids, and autologous stem cell transplantation occasionally induce responses but have considerable toxicity (JW Oncol Hematol Aug 23 2011). Recently, the proteosome inhibitor bortezomib improved outcomes in patients with multiple myeloma. Can it also benefit patients with AL amyloidosis?

To find out, two groups of investigators tested two bortezomib-containing regimens. See the table for details and results of the studies.