What are the key updates to the NCCN guidelines® for CLL/SLL?

Following recent changes to the NCCN guidelines®, the Lymphoma Hub was pleased to speak to Deborah Stephens, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Utah, US. We asked, What are the key updates to the NCCN guidelines® for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic leukemia?

Stephens explains that the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, ibrutinib, has been moved from the ‘preferred regimens’ category to the ‘other recommended regimens’ category for patients with CLL. This was based on findings from the phase III ALPINE (NCT03734016) and ELEVATE-RR (NCT02477696) clinical trials, which demonstrated equal or better efficacy and reduced toxicity for zanubrutinib and acalabrutinib, respectively, compared with ibrutinib for relapsed/refractory CLL.