Home > News
|
Treatment Boosts Survival Rate for People With Amyloidosis |
|
TUESDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDayNews) -- Treating primary amyloidosis patients with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation increased survival rates from one year to nearly five years.
And many people who received the treatment experienced a complete remission of the disease, says a Boston University School of Medicine study that appears in the Jan. 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
People with amyloidosis experience extracellular accumulation of chemically diverse proteins in various tissues and organs. This results in progressive disability and death. There is no known cause. Left untreated, people with amyloidosis usually die within a year.
In this study, researchers reviewed the results of 312 people with AL amyloidosis who were treated with high-dose melphalan stem-cell transplantation, which was pioneered at Boston University School of Medicine in 1994.
Half the patients survived more than 4.5 years, and 40 percent experienced complete remission after treatment. Of those who remained in complete remission one year after treatment, 8 percent had relapses within two years, but none had relapses after two years.
"Patients who receive this treatment may not only improve their quality of life and length of survival, but may also experience a complete remission of this devastating disease," study lead author Dr. Martha Skinner, a professor of medicine, says in a prepared statement.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about amyloidosis.
(SOURCE: Boston University, news release, Jan. 19, 2004)
Copyright © 2004 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
HealthDayNews articles are derived from various sources and do not reflect federal policy. healthfinder® does not endorse opinions, products, or services that may appear in news stories. For more information on health topics in the news, visit the healthfinder® health library.
