Fixed-Duration Ibrutinib Plus Venetoclax Beneficial for Leukemia

Jun 14, 2023

TUESDAY, June 13, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Fixed-duration ibrutinib plus venetoclax is beneficial for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, including those with high risk features, according to a study published online June 7 in Clinical Cancer Research.

John N. Allan, M.D., from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and colleagues reported outcomes of fixed-duration ibrutinib plus venetoclax in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with high-risk genomic features (del[17p], TP53 mutation, and/or unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain [IGHV]) from the CAPTIVATE study. Participants received three cycles of ibrutinib then 12 cycles of ibrutinib plus venetoclax. Of the 195 patients, 129 (66 percent) had one or more high-risk features.

The researchers found that regardless of high-risk features, the overall response rates were >95 percent. Complete response (CR) rates were 61 and 53 percent, respectively, for patients with and without high-risk features. The best undetectable minimal residual disease rates (uMRD) were 88 and 70 percent (peripheral blood) and 72 and 61 percent (bone marrow) for those with and without high-risk features, respectively; 36-month progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 88 and 92 percent, respectively. For 29 patients with del(17p)/TP53 mutation and 100 with unmutated IGHV without del(17p)/TP53 mutation, CR rates were 52 and 64 percent, respectively; uMRD rates were 83 and 90 percent (peripheral blood) and 45 and 80 percent (bone marrow), respectively; and 36-month PFS rates were 81 and 90 percent, respectively. Regardless of high-risk features, 36-month overall survival rates were >95 percent.

“While further follow-up is required to understand longer term outcomes, these results support fixed-duration ibrutinib plus venetoclax as a treatment approach for this patient population,” Allan said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Pharmacyclics and Janssen Biotech, which manufacture ibrutinib, and AbbVie, the manufacturer of venetoclax. The study was funded by Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company.

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