Abstract
Introduction
Immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis (AL Amyloidosis) is a plasma cell disorder characterized by deposition of misfolded insoluble protein fibrils (composed of monoclonal κ or λ light chains) in tissues causing progressive organ dysfunction. Chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), when eligible, are standard treatment options but relapses remain inevitable for most patients. However, there is a paucity of literature describing relapsed or refractory patients. We performed a retrospective study to analyze the outcomes upon relapse and the impact of type of therapy and retreatment with the same therapy at relapse.
Methods
Clinical and laboratory data of 1327 consecutive patients with systemic AL amyloidosis seen at Mayo Clinic within 90 days of their diagnosis, between 2006 and 2015, was collected by chart review and analyzed retrospectively. Of these patients, 219 (16.5%) were lost to follow-up. Among the remaining 1108 patients, 366 patients experienced a documented hematological or organ relapse or progression requiring change of first line or start of second line therapy and form the current study population. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from start of second line treatment or progression mandating therapy until death from any cause or the date of last follow up. The OS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test was used to estimate the difference in survival curves.
Results
The median age was 62.8 years (36.1 - 85.3); 63.1% were males; 64.7% / 59.3% / 11.4% had cardiac / renal / hepatic involvement and 24.2% / 32.1% / 23.3% / 20.3% had MS I/II/III/IV.
The median estimated follow up for this cohort was 69.4 months (95% CI; 64.4, 76.8) from the start of first line therapy and 45.2 months (95% CI; 36.5, 50.6) from the start of second line therapy or progression requiring treatment. The median time to second line treatment or relapse /progression mandating therapy was 16.2 months (1-93) from the start of first line therapy. At relapse, 14 patients underwent ASCT, 165 were treated with proteasome inhibitor (PI) based therapy, 83 with immunomodulator (IMiD) based therapy, 33 with alkylator based therapy, 15 with a combination of PI and IMiD, 10 with steroids, 8 with other therapies and 38 did not receive treatment.
Among the 366 patients, 124 (33.9%) required change or reinstitution of therapy during follow up at the time of analysis. The median time to third line treatment or relapse /progression mandating therapy was 31 months (95% CI; 24, 40.5) from the start of second line treatment. The median overall survival (OS) was 76.4 months (95% CI; 65.2, 83.6) from the start of first line therapy and 38.8 months (95% CI; 29.6, 52.6) from the start of second line therapy.
The type of therapy at relapse (ASCT vs PI vs IMiD vs melphalan vs steroids and others) did not alter the time to next therapy (ASCT, 43.1m; PI, 31m; IMiD, 37m; melphalan, 20.8m; steroids and others, 20m; p=0.3) and OS (ASCT, 66.9m; PI, 51.1m; IMiD, 51.3m; melphalan, 37.2m; steroids and others, 80.7m; p=0.9) from the start of the second line treatment; as depicted in Figure 1. Retreatment with a different drug class (as the first line treatment) at relapse significantly reduced the time to next treatment (32.3m vs 22 m; p= 0.01) as compared to same therapy; but did not have any impact on survival (30.8m vs 51.1m; p = 0.5); as presented in Figure 2.
Conclusion
This study provides novel information about outcomes of patients with systemic AL amyloidosis who relapse or progress after first line therapy which could be useful in planning salvage therapies and designing clinical trials. Retreatment with a different therapy at relapse improves time to next therapy but does not impact OS. Hence, we conclude that the patients can fare well post relapse/ progression and can benefit from various treatment regimens including retreatment with the same agent.
Dispenzieri:Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Prothena: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jannsen: Research Funding; pfizer: Research Funding; Alnylam: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding. Kapoor:Amgen: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding. Kumar:BMS: Consultancy; Kesios: Consultancy; Glycomimetics: Consultancy; Onyx: Consultancy, Research Funding; Array BioPharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Noxxon Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding; Skyline: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millennium: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding.
