Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

A greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying lymphoid malignancies has fostered the development of targeted therapies, including those aimed at B-cell signaling pathways.

Alessandra Ferrajoli, MD, discusses the recent approval of ibrutinib for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one previous therapy.

The FDA has expanded the approval of ibrutinib to include the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one previous therapy.

A crop of targeted agents have demonstrated promising results in fighting chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), suggesting that a range of emerging therapies and drug combinations may be more effective and better tolerated than standard chemotherapy

Renier J. Brentjens, MD, PhD, associate professor, chief, Cellular Therapeutics Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses clinical responses in patients with chronic lymphoblastic leukemia (CLL) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) following infusion with CD19-targeted T Cells.

John C. Byrd, MD, from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), provides an update on ibrutinib for the treatment of CLL.

Combination treatment with idelalisib plus rituximab was associated with a >70% improvement in OS in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory CLL.

Several trials of ibrutinib, an oral BTK inhibitor, either alone or in combination with currently used therapies for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia were presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Richard R. Furman, MD, from the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, discusses the ability to avoid the administration of chemotherapy when using novel agents, such as idelalisib, to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Adding ofatumumab to chlorambucil in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia who are considered inappropriate for fludarabine improves clinical outcomes and is tolerable irrespective of patient age or fitness.

Ian W. Flinn, MD, PhD, from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the preliminary efficacy of IPI-145 in patients with chronic lymphocyic leukemia (CLL).

Almost half of patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia attained objective responses when treated with an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase-delta and -gamma.

ABT-199, an orally bioavailable selective inhibitor of the Bcl-2 protein as monotherapy, induced remissions in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL and SLL, including adverse-risk subsets of patients.

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and major comorbidities had significantly better outcomes when treated with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab instead of rituximab.