Dr. Tam on the Toxicity of Ibrutinib Plus Venetoclax in MCL

Constantine S. Tam, MD, associate professor, Peter MacCullum Cancer Centre, discusses the toxicities associated with the combination of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta) for patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Toxicities that were seen with the combination were what was expected from the 2 drugs individually, states Tam. Ibrutinib had side effects in terms of bruising and bleeding. Venetoclax had reflux symptoms and neutropenia, which are both expected, explains Tam. Importantly, neither one of these toxicities was higher when the drugs were given in combination compared with monotherapy.

This treatment requires 8 tablets a day, and none of the patients had to stop their treatment because of toxicities.