Jan A. Burger, MD, PhD, on Long-Term Outcomes with Ibrutinib in High-Risk Patients with CLL/SLL

An integrated analysis of 2 phase 3 studies with up to 6.5 years of follow-up, presented at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, reported the outcomes of first-line ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and high-risk genomic features.

The findings from the phase RESONATE-2 and iLLUMINATE studies confirmed significant progression-free survival (PFS) and overall response rate (ORR) benefits with ibrutinib with or without obinutuzumab (Gazyva), versus chlorambucil with or without obinutuzumab, and demonstrated similar PFS and ORR for patients treated with ibrutinib with or without high-risk genomic features.

In an interview with CancerNetwork®, Jan A. Burger, MD, PhD, of the Department of Leukemia in the Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, spoke about what he believes is most important for providers to take away from these study results.

Transcription:

I think the take home message from this abstract is it gives us reassurance now with longer follow up from these studies that we really need to push in the direction of treating higher risk patients with the new agents. It gives us reassurance that this trend, which is already happening as these widely prescribed nowadays for CLL patients – at least in the US and in Europe – it gives us reassurance that this is the right trend and that the benefit for the high-risk patients from these new agents is ongoing and is durable.

Reference:

Burger JA, Robak T, Demirkan F, et al. Outcomes of First-Line Ibrutinib in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL) and High-Risk Genomic Features with up to 6.5 Years Follow-up: Integrated Analysis of Two Phase 3 Studies (RESONATE-2 and iLLUMINATE). Presented at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. Poster 2220.