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Weekly cyclophosphamide, subcutaneous bortezomib and dexamethathasone (CyBorD) for initial treatment of transplant-eligible patients with multiple myeloma: experience of two transplant centres

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 56, pages 738–740 (2021)Cite this article

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The combination of bortezomib, cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone (CyBorD or VCD) has been evaluated using different protocols in multiple myeloma (MM). Most of these studies employed twice weekly bortezomib at 1.3 mg/m2 (days 1, 4, 8, 11) and intravenous (IV) administration [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Subcutaneous (SC) bortezomib has been demonstrated to be associated with non-inferior efficacy and less adverse events than IV administration [1, 7] and weekly rather than twice weekly administration of bortezomib is associated with reduced toxicity with similar response rates [2, 7, 8]. In light of this, weekly SC bortezomib CyBorD protocols are used widely in Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe as induction prior to autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) [9, 10]. However, there is a lack of published data regarding response rates and survival outcomes utilising these regimens. We aimed to evaluate the experience of using a weekly CyBorD protocol as induction prior to ASCT in two transplant centres in Australia.

This is a retrospective study of patients treated between August 2015 and August 2019 at St Vincent’s Hospital and January 2012 and August 2019 at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, Australia. These dates were selected based on availability of electronic medical records, in addition to the timing of adoption of this protocol at these sites. All patients prescribed four 28-day cycles of CyBorD (weekly SC bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2, oral cyclophosphamide 300 mg/m2 (or 500 mg) and dexamethasone 40 mg) for newly diagnosed MM with an intent to proceed to ASCT were included. Patients were identified from prescribing records and the ASCT registry. This project was approved by the South Western Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Haematology, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Georgia J. McCaughan, Orly Lavee & John J. Moore

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Georgia J. McCaughan, Anvita Verma, Silvia Ling & Adam Bryant

  3. Department of Haematology, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Anvita Verma, Silvia Ling, John J. Moore & Adam Bryant

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  1. Georgia J. McCaughan
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Correspondence to Georgia J. McCaughan.

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McCaughan, G.J., Verma, A., Ling, S. et al. Weekly cyclophosphamide, subcutaneous bortezomib and dexamethathasone (CyBorD) for initial treatment of transplant-eligible patients with multiple myeloma: experience of two transplant centres. Bone Marrow Transplant 56, 738–740 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-020-01086-9

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