Different Therapies and Modalities for Treatment of CLL in the Second Line
This article was originally published on Targeted Oncology
During a Targeted Oncology Case Based Peer Perspectives event, Danielle Brander, MD, assistant professor of Medicine at Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC, discussed options for treating a 53-year-old female patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Targeted Oncology™: What are the guideline-recommended regimens to treat a patient with CLL such as this one?
BRANDER: The [National Comprehensive Cancer Network] guidelines for regimens in the relapsed/refractory setting include acalabrutinib [Calquence] and venetoclax [Venclexta], which are approved in all lines of therapy. In the relapsed/refractory setting, there’s also approval of duvelisib [Copiktra] and idelalisib [Zydelig], which are PI3K inhibitors.1
What data support the use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica), which is another guideline-recommended agent for the treatment of this patient?
The data that led to the initial approval of ibrutinib was the RESONATE trial [NCT01578707]. [The trial] randomized patients 1:1 to either ibrutinib or the anti-CD20 antibody standard-of-care agent in the relapsed/refractory setting, ofatumumab. Patients were allowed to cross over on this study.2
There are now 6-year follow-up data [showing that the] median progression-free survival [PFS] for the ibrutinib arm was not reached but was short [8.1 months] for the ofatumumab alone [HR, 0.133; 95% CI, 0.099-0.178].
Markers [of prognosis] that would indicate inferior response to chemoimmunotherapy are either the patients with IGHV unmutated or del(17p) or del(11q), who are still having good responses. This is in the relapsed/refractory setting with novel agents.
The grade 3 or greater AEs [adverse effects] that you’ll see are infectious complications. Infections and neutropenia do get better in terms of incidence with [time]. But obviously, if they have to stop [treatment] in the first year, it’s still detrimental to them. One thing [to keep in mind when] monitoring patients is that time on therapy does increase risks for hypertension. Atrial fibrillation and bleeding remain a risk throughout treatment. Often, they first appear early on treatment.