Richard R. Furman, MD

Richard R. Furman, MD, professor of medicine, Morton Coleman, MD Distinguished Professor of Medicine, director, CLL Research Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, and attending physician, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the distinguishing features between the 3 different Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors as treatment of patients with B-cell malignancies.

Ibrutinib (Imbruvica) is a first-generation BTK inhibitor, says Furman, and zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) and acalabrutinib (Calquence) are second-generation inhibitors. Because all 3 of these agents covalently bind to the same residue and work through the same mechanism in terms of their efficacy, the only difference is the specificity and the drug to drug interaction, according to Furman.

Because of the difference in specificity, there are fewer off-target effects with the second-generation BTK inhibitors compared with ibrutinib. This also leads to different adverse event profiles, says Furman. Because of the differences in how the drugs are metabolized, there are also differences in their interactions with other drugs.

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Richard R. Furman, MD, discusses the distinguishing features between the 3 different Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors as treatment of patients with B-cell malignancies.

Identifying Differences Between BTK Inhibitors for B-Cell Malignancies

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Richard R. Furman, MD, professor of medicine, Morton Coleman, MD Distinguished Professor of Medicine, director, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, and attending physician, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the 42-month follow-up data of acalabrutinib monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

42-Month Follow-Up Data of Acalabrutinib Monotherapy in R/R CLL

Richard R. Furman, MD, a member of the Lymphoma/Myeloma Service in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, discusses the ability to avoid the administration of chemotherapy when using novel agents, such as idelalisib, to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Using novel agents, such as idelalisib, instead of chemotherapy allows the patient to experience fewer serious adverse events

Chemotherapy side effects include immunosuppression, myelosuppression, and the long-term risk of bone marrow failure and secondary cancers

The avoidance of these side effects should prompt all physicians to consider avoiding chemotherapy treatment strategies whenever possible

Richard R. Furman, MD, a member of the Lymphoma/Myeloma Service in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, discusses the ability to avoid the administration of chemotherapy when using novel agents, such as idelalisib, to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.


Using Idelalisib Instead of Chemotherapy to Treat CLL

Richard R. Furman, MD, Richard A. Stratton Assistant Professor in Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, gives an overview of the efficacy and safety of idelalisib and rituximab for previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Idelalisib + rituximab demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with placebo + rituximab [HR =  0.15]

Median PFS was not reached in idelalisib arm and was 5.5 months in placebo arm

Overall survival benefit was also identified in idelalisib arm

There was a decrease in the risk of infusion reaction in the idelalisib arm

6 patients in the idelalisib arm experienced transaminitis

In this analysis, patients treated with idelalisib did not see an increased risk of diarrhea

Richard R. Furman, MD, Richard A. Stratton Assistant Professor in Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, gives an overview of the efficacy and safety of idelalisib and rituximab for previously treated CLL.

Richard R. Furman, MD | Authors

Articles

Identifying Differences Between BTK Inhibitors for B-Cell Malignancies

42-Month Follow-Up Data of Acalabrutinib Monotherapy in R/R CLL

Using Idelalisib Instead of Chemotherapy to Treat CLL

Efficacy and Safety of Idelalisib and Rituximab for Previously Treated CLL