Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for systemic AL amyloidosis

Low-intensity chemotherapy is ineffective in most patients with AL amyloidosis, probably because clinical benefit requires regression of the amyloid deposits, and this occurs only very gradually after the underlying plasma cell dyscrasia has been suppressed. We report the first successful allogeneic bone marrow transplant (allo-BMT) for AL amyloidosis, which after 3 years was associated with complete clinical recovery. This supports the idea that there may be a brief window of opportunity in patients with AL amyloidosis during which dose-intensive chemotherapy is feasible and most likely to produce clinical benefit.