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Featured research from recent issues of Blood
PAPER SPOTLIGHT
Encouraging Trends in Six-Month
Mortality in Amyloid Light-Chain
Amyloidosis
With recent advances in
diagnosis, treatment, and
response assessment,
clinicians have observed a
significant decrease in six-
month mortality (p<0.001)
among patients with
amyloid light-chain (AL)
amyloidosis, according to
a study published in Blood
by researchers at the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Min-
nesota. This was true for
patients who underwent
autologous hematopoietic
cell transplantation (AHCT;
p=0.07) and those who did
not (p<0.001).
“For 40 years, six-month
mortality was fixed at
approximately 40 percent,”
wrote the authors, led by
Eli Muchtar, MD, from the
Division of Hematology at
the Mayo Clinic. “For the
first time, however, we
have observed a reduc-
tion in six-month mortal-
ity from 36 percent to 24
percent.”
The researchers analyzed
data from 1,551 patients
(median age = 63 years;
range = 55-70 years) with
biopsy-proven systemic AL
amyloidosis who were seen
at the Mayo Clinic within 90
days of diagnosis, be-
tween January 1, 2000, and
Decem