Triple Therapy for CLL Shows Promise in Phase 2 Trial
This article was originally published by Cancer Therapy Advisor
Results from a phase 2 study of 3 oral targeted agents for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) showed that patients achieved deep remissions after a limited-time duration treatment. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, included both treatment-naive patients and those with recurrent/relapsed disease.1 The regimen worked well enough that phase 3 studies are underway.
Patients in this trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02427451) received a combination regimen of obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax.2 The 3 agents have different mechanisms of action, and are thought to combine well against CLL. Obinutuzumab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is given first, followed by ibrutinib, which inhibits the B-cell signaling protein Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK). Venetoclax, a BCL-2 inhibitor, comes last.
“We took the 3 most highly effective nonchemotherapy drugs that we had in CLL, put them in this regimen, and dosed them so they’re started sequentially,” said the study’s lead investigator Kerry Rogers, MD, hematologist with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus.