Bortezomib for AIHA

Overview
Bortezomib is a prescription medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat mantle cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Bortezomib is sometimes prescribed off-label to treat autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) in people who have not been successfully treated by first-line treatments. Bortezomib may be prescribed alone or in combination with rituximab-dexamethasone or cyclophosphamide-dexamethasone. Bortezomib is also known by its brand name, Velcade.

Bortezomib is an anti-cancer drug used in chemotherapy. Bortezomib is a member of a class of drugs called proteasome inhibitors. Bortezomib is believed to work in some people with AIHA by reducing the number of plasma cells responsible for producing autoantibodies, which cause several autoimmune conditions such as AIHA.

How do I take it?
Bortezomib is administered as a subcutaneous injection or intravenous infusion.

Side effects
The FDA-approved label for bortezomib lists common side effects including weakness, tiredness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, appetite loss, stomach pain, headache, and difficulty sleeping.

Rare but serious side effects listed for bortezomib include heart failure, tumor lysis syndrome, fetal harm in pregnant women, low blood pressure that may lead to fainting, and damage to the lungs, liver, or gastrointestinal system. Call your doctor if you experience weakness in the arms and legs, sudden pain, shortness of breath, swelling of the feet, fever, hives, bruising, black stools, slurred speech, chest pain, cough, or purple dots under the skin.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Bortezomib in Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia and Beyond — Therapeutic Advances in Hematology
https://doi.org/10.1177/20406207211046428

Bortezomib — MedLine Plus
https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a607007.html