Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Based on data from the phase III MURANO trial, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended the approval of venetoclax for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least 1 previous therapy. AbbVie, a co-developer of venetoclax with Roche, announced the CHMP’s decision in a news release.

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, senior member of the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the current treatment landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Minimal residual disease data from the phase III MURANO trial has been added to the label for venetoclax (Venclexta) by the FDA for its approved use in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) for previously-treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, senior member of the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the biggest challenge in treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Kerry Rogers, MD, assistant professor at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a short-term treatment strategy for reducing tumor burden and the risk for tumor lysis syndrome in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Susan M. O’Brien, MD, discusses some of the latest intriguing data in the treatment of CLL, and the growing importance of mutation status.

Danielle Brander, MD, highlights how recent advances are changing the field of CLL and what it means for physicians and their patients.

Susan M. O'Brien, MD, associate director for clinical sciences at UC Irvine Health, shares her insights on why CAR T cells are not as successful in chronic lymphocytic leukemia as compared to lymphoma or acute lymphocytic leukemia. She also discusses what she believes must change in order for this therapy to move up in the treatment landscape for CLL.

Jacqueline D. Barrientos, MD, MS, discusses the current treatment landscape for CLL. She also highlights some of the biggest challenges for physicians and gave her insight on how to move forward in the field.

Anthony R. Mato, MD, MSCE, discusses the next steps for umbralisib and the biggest challenges still facing patients with CLL.

Danielle M. Brander, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and member of the Duke Cancer Institute, discusses a major challenge in the field of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She says the biggest challenge to overcome in the treatment of patients with CLL is navigating areas where research is not yet mature. 

While the approval of new agents represents a great step forward in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), physicians are now challenged with how to best utilize these new treatment options, according to a presentation by Anthony Mato, MD, MSCE, at the 2nd Annual Live Medical Crossfire: Hematologic Malignancies.

An updated analysis of obinutuzumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy for patients with treatment-naïve or relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia detected no new safety signals. Investigators in the phase IIIb GREEN trial also found overall response rates greater than 80% at 3 months post-treatment in some patients.

According to long-term follow-up data from the phase III CLL11 study, treatment with obinutuzumab combined with chlorambucil reduced the risk of death by 24% versus rituximab plus chlorambucil in treatment-naïve patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with comorbidities. These findings were presented at the 2018 European Hematology Association Congress.

Neil E. Kay, MD, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, discusses the challenges that arise when treating a patient with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Most times, responses in this setting are short lived.

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, discusses the findings with duvelisib plus fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab as a frontline therapy for younger patients with CLL, as well as the potential future for this agent in the treatment of patients with CLL.

Based on data from the phase III MURANO trial, venetoclax has been granted a regular approval by the FDA for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, with or without 17p deletion, who has received at least 1 prior therapy.

According to results presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, moxetumomab pasudotox, a first-in-class recombinant immunotoxin targeting CD22, demonstrated deep and durable responses in a substantial proportion of pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory hairy cell leukemia.

Treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia achieved high rates of minimal residual disease–negative status of 77% with peripheral blood testing after 6 cycles from treatment with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta). Additionally, patients in the CAPTIVATE trial, wihch was presented during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, achieved an objective response rate of 100%.