Dr. Wong on the Potential Role of Venetoclax in Relapsed/Refractory AL Amyloidosis

Sandy Wong, MD, assistant professor, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the potential role of venetoclax (Venclexta) in relapsed/refractory light chain (AL) amyloidosis.

Many treatment options are available for patients with relapsed/refractory AL amyloidosis, Wong says. However, some agents are associated with increased toxicity compared with others.

Many of these drugs were taken from the multiple myeloma paradigm, explains Wong. However, treatment-related toxicities may be more significant in AL amyloidosis versus multiple myeloma as patients with AL amyloidosis tend to be frail with multi-organ damage.

The BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax is approved in chronic lymphocytic lymphoma and acute myeloid leukemia, Wong says. Additionally, the agent is under investigation in multiple myeloma, specifically for patients with translocation(11;14).

About half of patients with AL amyloidosis present with t(11;14) at diagnosis. As such, venetoclax could be a viable treatment option for this subgroup of patients, concludes Wong.