Ibrutinib-Rituximab or Chemoimmunotherapy for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
Data regarding the efficacy of treatment with ibrutinib-rituximab, as compared with standard chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab, in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been limited.
In a phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned (in a 2:1 ratio) patients 70 years of age or younger with previously untreated CLL to receive either ibrutinib and rituximab for six cycles (after a single cycle of ibrutinib alone), followed by ibrutinib until disease progression, or six cycles of chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab. The primary end point was progression-free survival, and overall survival was a secondary end point. We report the results of a planned interim analysis.
A total of 529 patients underwent randomization (354 patients to the ibrutinib-rituximab group, and 175 to the chemoimmunotherapy group). At a median follow-up of 33.6 months, the results of the analysis of progression-free survival favored ibrutinib-rituximab over chemoimmunotherapy (89.4% vs. 72.9% at 3 years; hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.56; P<0.001), and the results met the protocol-defined efficacy threshold for the interim analysis. The results of the analysis of overall survival also favored ibrutinib-rituximab over chemoimmunotherapy (98.8% vs. 91.5% at 3 years; hazard ratio for death, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.54; P<0.001). In a subgroup analysis involving patients without immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region (IGHV) mutation, ibrutinib-rituximab resulted in better progression-free survival than chemoimmunotherapy (90.7% vs. 62.5% at 3 years; hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.50). The 3-year progression-free survival among patients with IGHV mutation was 87.7% in the ibrutinib-rituximab group and 88.0% in the chemoimmunotherapy group (hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.14 to 1.36). The incidence of adverse events of grade 3 or higher (regardless of attribution) was similar in the two groups (in 282 of 352 patients [80.1%] who received ibrutinib-rituximab and in 126 of 158 [79.7%] who received chemoimmunotherapy), whereas infectious complications of grade 3 or higher were less common with ibrutinib-rituximab than with chemoimmunotherapy (in 37 patients [10.5%] vs. 32 [20.3%], P<0.001).
The ibrutinib-rituximab regimen resulted in progression-free survival and overall survival that were superior to those with a standard chemoimmunotherapy regimen among patients 70 years of age or younger with previously untreated CLL. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and Pharmacyclics; E1912 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02048813.).
Shanafelt TD
,Wang XV
,Kay NE
,Hanson CA
,O'Brien S
,Barrientos J
,Jelinek DF
,Braggio E
,Leis JF
,Zhang CC
,Coutre SE
,Barr PM
,Cashen AF
,Mato AR
,Singh AK
,Mullane MP
,Little RF
,Erba H
,Stone RM
,Litzow M
,Tallman M
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Ibrutinib and Venetoclax for First-Line Treatment of CLL.
Ibrutinib, an inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase, and venetoclax, an inhibitor of B-cell lymphoma 2 protein, have been approved for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Preclinical investigations have indicated potential synergistic interaction of their combination.
We conducted an investigator-initiated phase 2 study of combined ibrutinib and venetoclax involving previously untreated high-risk and older patients with CLL. All patients had at least one of the following features: chromosome 17p deletion, mutated TP53, chromosome 11q deletion, unmutated IGHV, or an age of 65 years or older. Patients received ibrutinib monotherapy (420 mg once daily) for 3 cycles, followed by the addition of venetoclax (weekly dose escalation to 400 mg once daily). Combined therapy was administered for 24 cycles. Response assessments were performed according to International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia 2008 criteria. Minimal residual disease was assessed by means of multicolor flow cytometry in bone marrow (sensitivity, 10-4).
A total of 80 patients were treated. The median age was 65 years (range, 26 to 83). A total of 30% of the patients were 70 years of age or older. Overall, 92% of the patients had unmutated IGHV, TP53 aberration, or chromosome 11q deletion. With combined treatment, the proportions of patients who had complete remission (with or without normal blood count recovery) and remission with undetectable minimal residual disease increased over time. After 12 cycles of combined treatment, 88% of the patients had complete remission or complete remission with incomplete count recovery, and 61% had remission with undetectable minimal residual disease. Responses were noted in older adults and across all high-risk subgroups. Three patients had laboratory evidence of tumor lysis syndrome. The adverse-event profile was similar to what has been reported with ibrutinib and venetoclax.
In this study, combined venetoclax and ibrutinib was an effective oral regimen for high-risk and older patients with CLL. (Funded by AbbVie and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02756897.).
Jain N
,Keating M
,Thompson P
,Ferrajoli A
,Burger J
,Borthakur G
,Takahashi K
,Estrov Z
,Fowler N
,Kadia T
,Konopleva M
,Alvarado Y
,Yilmaz M
,DiNardo C
,Bose P
,Ohanian M
,Pemmaraju N
,Jabbour E
,Sasaki K
,Kanagal-Shamanna R
,Patel K
,Jorgensen J
,Garg N
,Wang X
,Sondermann K
,Cruz N
,Wei C
,Ayala A
,Plunkett W
,Kantarjian H
,Gandhi V
,Wierda W
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Decitabine, venetoclax, and ponatinib for advanced phase chronic myeloid leukaemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukaemia: a single-arm, single-centre phase 2 trial.
Advanced phase Philadelphia chromosome-positive myeloid disease-consisting of chronic myeloid leukaemia in the myeloid blast phase and in the accelerated phase, and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukaemia-is associated with poor outcomes. Although previous studies have suggested the benefit of chemotherapy and BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor combinations, the optimal regimen is uncertain and prospective studies for this rare group of diseases are scant. Preclinical and retrospective clinical data suggest possible synergy between the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax and BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We therefore aimed to design a study to evaluate the safety and activity of a novel combination of decitabine, venetoclax, and the third-generation BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib in advanced phase Philadelphia chromosome-positive myeloid diseases.
For this phase 2 study, patients aged 18 years or older with previously untreated or relapsed or refractory myeloid chronic myeloid leukaemia-blast phase, chronic myeloid leukaemia-accelerated phase, or advanced phase Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukaemia, and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-3 were eligible. Patients were eligible regardless of the number of previous lines of therapy received or previous receipt of ponatinib. Cycle 1 (induction) consisted of a 7-day lead-in of ponatinib 45 mg orally daily (days 1-7), followed by combination therapy with decitabine 20 mg/m2 intravenously on days 8-12, venetoclax orally daily with ramp-up to a maximum dose of 400 mg on days 8-28, and ponatinib 45 mg orally daily on days 8-28. Cycles 2-24 consisted of decitabine 20 mg/m2 intravenously on days 1-5, venetoclax orally 400 mg on days 1-21, and ponatinib orally daily on days 1-28. Response-based dosing of ponatinib was implemented in consolidation cycles, with reduction to 30 mg daily in patients who reached complete remission or complete remission with an incomplete haematological recovery and a reduction to 15 mg daily in patients with undetectable BCR::ABL1 transcripts. The primary endpoint was the composite rate of complete remission or complete remission with incomplete haematological recovery in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04188405) and is still ongoing.
Between July 12, 2020, and July 8, 2023, 20 patients were treated (14 with chronic myeloid leukaemia-blast phase, four with chronic myeloid leukaemia-accelerated phase, and two with advanced phase Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukaemia). The median age was 43 years (IQR 32-58); 13 (65%) patients were male and seven (35%) were female; and 12 (60%) were White, three (15%) were Hispanic, four (20%) were Black, and one (5%) was Asian. 12 (60%) patients had received 2 or more previous BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and 14 (70%) patients had at least one high-risk additional chromosomal abnormality or complex karyotype. The median duration of follow-up was 21·2 months (IQR 14·1-24·2). The complete remission or complete remission with an incomplete haematological recovery rate was 50% (10 of 20 patients); complete remission in one [5%] patient and complete remission with incomplete haematological recovery in nine [45%]). An additional six (30%) patients had a morphologic leukaemia-free state. The most common grade 3-4 non-haematological adverse events were febrile neutropenia in eight (40%) patients, infection in six (30%), and alanine or aspartate transaminase elevation in five (25%). Eight (40%) patients had at least one cardiovascular event of any grade. There were three on-study deaths, none of which was considered related to the study treatment and all from infections in the setting of refractory leukaemia.
The combination of decitabine, venetoclax, and ponatinib is safe and shows promising activity in patients with advanced phase chronic myeloid leukaemia, including those with multiple previous therapies or high-risk disease features. Further studies evaluating chemotherapy and venetoclax-based combination strategies using newer-generation BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors are warranted.
Takeda Oncology, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Cancer Institute Cancer Center.
Short NJ
,Nguyen D
,Jabbour E
,Senapati J
,Zeng Z
,Issa GC
,Abbas H
,Nasnas C
,Qiao W
,Huang X
,Borthakur G
,Chien K
,Haddad FG
,Pemmaraju N
,Karrar OS
,Nguyen D
,Konopleva M
,Kantarjian H
,Ravandi F
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《Lancet Haematology》