SYMPATICO: Is ibrutinib combined with venetoclax safe and effective in patients with R/R MCL?

During the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the Lymphoma Hub spoke to Michael Wang, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, US. We asked, Is ibrutinib combined with venetoclax safe and effective in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)?

Firstly, Wang discusses key findings from the SYMPATICO study (NCT03112174) investigating ibrutinib + venetoclax vs ibrutinib + placebo in patients with R/R MCL; results showed longer median progression-free survival with ibrutinib + venetoclax vs ibrutinib + placebo (32 months vs 22 months, respectively) and higher overall response rates (82% vs 74%, respectively). The safety profiles between both treatment arms were comparable, with fatigue, neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and diarrhea reported as the most common adverse events of any grade. Finally, he concluded that ibrutinib + venetoclax is an effective and safe treatment option for patients with R/R MCL compared with ibrutinib + placebo, and this combination is already a standard-of-care treatment in several countries.