Dr. Ghia on the Key Takeaways of the CAPTIVATE Study in Treatment-Naïve CLL

Paolo Ghia, MD, PhD, full professor, Medical Oncology, head, Strategic Research Program on CLL, Università Vita Salute San Raffaele, deputy director, Division of Experimental Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, discusses the key takeaways of the phase 2 CAPTIVATE study (NCT02910583) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The CAPTIVATE study has shown that it is possible to utilize minimal residual disease (MRD) detection to tailor treatments to patients, Ghia says. Particularly, the data that was seen from the MRD cohort showed that it was possible to safely interrupt treatment with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) plus venetoclax (Venclexta) without significant difference from the efficacy of continuous ibrutinib in patients who achieved undetectable MRD, Ghia explains. However, in other cohorts, such as the fixed-duration cohort, it remains unknown whether treatment interruptions are feasible, Ghia adds.

Moreover, the 3-year progression-free survival rates from the start of study treatment were at least 95% across all MRD-directed, randomized treatment arms, Ghia concludes.