Chemotherapy-Free Regimen Consisting of 3 Novel Agents for Previously Untreated, Poor Prognosis CLL
Nearly 60% of evaluable patients with previously untreated, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) characterized by chromosomal deletion of 17p (del[17p]) and/or a deleterious TP53 mutation treated with obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax triplet therapy achieved either complete remission (CR) or a CR with incomplete recovery of the bone marrow, according to results of a single-arm, phase 2 study presented during the Virtual Edition of the 25th European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Congress.
While less than 10% of patients diagnosed with CLL have disease characterized by del(17p), this biomarker is present in up to half of patients with refractory disease.2 Hence, there is an unmet need for efficacious and safe treatment regimens for this subgroup of patients. Furthermore, compounding this need is the finding that TP53 mutations, another biomarker of poor prognosis, have been reported to be present in approximately 90% of patients with disease characterized by del(17p) although only about 40% of those with TP53-mutant CLL also have del(17p).An unmutated IGHV gene is another risk factor for poor prognosis in the setting of CLL.2