A feline case of multiple myeloma treated with bortezomib

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an uncommon neoplasm in cats. There is no established standard of treatment due to the rare occurrence of this disease in cats. Bortezomib is a proteasome inhibitor that serves as the first-line drug for MM in humans, but its effectiveness currently is unknown in feline MM. We present here the case report of a feline MM that exhibited a favorable response to bortezomib. CASE PRESENTATION: The case was an 11-year-old non-castrated male domestic cat with light-chain MM presenting with clinical symptoms (anorexia, fatigue, and vomiting), mild azotemia, and pancytopenia. The cat failed on melphalan with prednisolone (MP), so bortezomib (Velcade) was initiated on Day 88. A total of 6 cycles of the treatment was performed, with each treatment cycle consisting of twice-weekly subcutaneous administration for 2 weeks followed by a 1-week rest. The dose of bortezomib was 0.7 mg/m(2) for first week and 1.0 mg/m(2) for second week in the first cycle. A dose of 0.7 mg/m(2) was used for subsequent cycles. Prednisolone was used concomitantly in the first 2 cycles. Following treatment with bortezomib, clinical symptoms disappeared and a decrease in serum globulin and recovery of pancytopenia were noted. A monoclonal gammopathy, overproduction of serum immunoglobulin light chain, and Bence-Jones proteinuria that existed at diagnosis were undetectable on Day 123. A monoclonal gammopathy also was not detectable at the end of the bortezomib treatment (Day 213). Anorexia, fatigue, and marked bone marrow toxicity were experienced when bortezomib was administrated at a dose of 1.0 mg/m(2), while no recognizable toxicity was observed at a dose of 0.7 mg/m(2) throughout the treatment period. The case was placed on follow-up and there was no evidence of relapse as of Day 243. CONCLUSIONS: Bortezomib was effective and durable for the treatment of this case of feline MM after failure with MP. Bortezomib was well-tolerated in this cat at a dose of 0.7 mg/m(2), but not at 1.0 mg/m(2). Bortezomib appears to be a drug worthy of further study for the treatment of feline MM. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-022-03484-1.