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One of the hallmarks of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the uncontrolled proliferation of B cells coupled with a failure of apoptosis due to overexpression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2. Venetoclax-based therapies targeting the Bcl-2 pathway became a standard of care for patients with CLL.1-3 However, little is known about the optimal treatment regimen after discontinuation of venetoclax or the impact of venetoclax resistance on the efficacy of subsequent therapies. This is particularly important considering the early use of venetoclax-based therapies4 in the treatment of patients with CLL supported by the data from MURANO and CLL14 clinical trials.
Anthony R. Mato, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, US, and colleagues, aimed to address those knowledge gaps in a multicenter retrospective study of patients with CLL who had discontinued venetoclax and received subsequent therapy. The results were presented during the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Orlando, US.5 Here we provide a summary of the data reported at the meeting. Data presented at the ASH meeting may supersede the data in the published abstract.
Baseline characteristics
Results
Available data (n)
Age at CLL diagnosis, median (range), years
58 (32–88)
326
Age at venetoclax start, median (range), years
66 (38 –91)
324
Male, (%)
69
326
White race, (%)
87
325
CLL characteristics, (%)
Rai stage ≥ 3
Del(17p)
TP53 mutated
TP53 disruption (del17p or TP53 mutated)
Complex karyotype (≥ 3 abnormalities)
NOTCH1 mutated
IGHV non-mutated
64
47
45
56
39
18
82
318
312
221
312
279
103
171
Therapy prior to venetoclax
Lines of therapy, median (range)
Prior ibrutinib (%)
Prior BTKi (%)
Prior idelalisib (%)
3 (0–11)
60
61
19
326
324
324
324
Allo-HSCT, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Overall discontinuation rate, (%)
100
Reasons for discontinuation, (%)
CLL progression
Adverse event
Richter’s transformation
Patient preference
Planned allo-HSCT
38
14
14
8
6
Following discontinuation
Treatment with next line of therapy
Alive and untreated
Died prior to subsequent therapy
58
19
23
acalabr, acalabrutinib; BTKi, Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor; CAR T-cell, chimeric antigen receptor T cell; CR, complete response; Nc BTKi, non-covalent BTKi; ORR, overall response rate; PD, progressive disease, PI3Ki, phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor; PR, partial response; PR-L, partial response with lymphocytosis; SD, stable disease; ven, venetoclax
Post-ven
therapy
BTKi
PI3Ki
CAR T- cell therapy
Anti-CD20 antibody
Agent
Ibrutinib
Acalabr
Ibrutinib
Acalabr
Nc BTKi
Ibrutinib
Acalabr
Nc BTKi
Idelalisib
Duvelisib
Anti-CD19
Rituximab
Obinutuzumab
Ofatumumab
Prior exposure
BTKi-naïve
BTKi-exposed
BTKi-resistant
BTKi- exposed
BTKi-intolerant
PI3Ki-
naïve
BTKi-exposed
BTKi-exposed
–
Number of patients
44
20
10
17
18
19
ORR (%)
CR
PR
PR-L
SD
PD
83.9
9
56.8
18.1
11.6
4.5
53
6.6
26.4
20
20
27
70
20
30
20
–
30
46.9
5.9
35.2
5.8
23.7
29.4
66.6
33.3
33.3
0
5.7
27.7
32
16
16
0
32
37
The data support the early use of venetoclax in the course of CLL and demonstrate the importance of prior treatment exposure and reasons for discontinuation in decision making on the subsequent line of therapy. BTKi in patients who were BTKi-naïve or previously responsive and allo-HSCT were the most effective post-venetoclax treatments.
However, the author highlighted the limitations of the study, including a more heavily pretreated patient population, with a high number of patients who received venetoclax monotherapy, which might not be representative of patients seen in everyday clinical practice. As true venetoclax discontinuation might not have been captured and the relatively short follow-up, direct comparisons between therapies should not be made.
References
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