Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Richard Furman, MD, discusses how survival times for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia have increased dramatically in the past decade, thanks to an ever-expanding armamentarium of novel agents and more patients now being diagnosed earlier.

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;that happened in the month of&nbsp;October 2018, including several new FDA approvals, priority reviews, a breakthrough therapy designation, and more, in a variety of cancer types.<br /> &nbsp;

Treatment-na&iuml;ve patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who had comorbidities saw a reduction in the risk of disease progression or death after treatment with venetoclax combined with obinutuzumab versus obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil.

Sarah K. Tasian, MD, discusses what she finds most interesting about Philadelphia chromosome (Ph-like) acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A&nbsp;supplemental new drug application for ibrutinib (Imbruvica) has been granted a priority review by the FDA&nbsp;for use in combination with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) as a frontline treatment for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Danielle Brander, MD,&nbsp;discusses the current treatment landscape in the frontline setting for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Shagun Arora, MD, discusses new agents and combination studies beyond chemoimmunotherapy for patients with CLL.

Mazyar Shadman, MD,&nbsp;discusses the evolution of therapy in CLL and how physicians are working to balance these novel agents with additional modalities.<br /> &nbsp;

Infographic: Here, we share the top 5 oncology news stories we reported this week, including the most recent FDA updates and expert insights on key developments in the field.

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;that happened in the month of&nbsp;September 2018, including several new approvals, priority reviews, a breakthrough therapy designation, and more, in a variety of cancer types.

Javier A. Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD,&nbsp;discusses updates in the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Katy Rezvani, MD, discussed the potential she sees with CAR NK cells. She also highlighted some of the challenges with both CAR T-cell therapy in patients with CLL, as well as challenges to overcome with CAR NK cells in this patient population.

Duvelisib (Copiktra) has been approved by the FDA for the&nbsp;treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma or relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.&nbsp;Both indications are for the treatment of patients who have received at least 2 prior therapies.

Based on data from the phase III MURANO trial, the European Medicines Agency&rsquo;s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended the approval of venetoclax&nbsp;for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least 1 previous therapy. AbbVie, a co-developer of venetoclax with Roche, announced the CHMP&rsquo;s decision in a news release.

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, senior member of the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the current treatment landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Minimal residual disease data from the phase III MURANO trial has been added to the label for venetoclax (Venclexta) by the FDA for its&nbsp;approved use in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) for previously-treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, senior member of the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the biggest challenge in treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Kerry Rogers, MD, assistant professor at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a short-term&nbsp;treatment&nbsp;strategy for&nbsp;reducing tumor burden and the risk for tumor lysis syndrome in patients with&nbsp;chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Susan M. O&rsquo;Brien, MD,&nbsp;discusses some of the latest intriguing data in the treatment of CLL, and the growing importance of mutation status.

Danielle Brander, MD,&nbsp;highlights how recent advances are changing the field of CLL and what it means for physicians and their patients.

Susan M. O&#39;Brien, MD, associate director for clinical sciences at UC Irvine Health, shares her insights on why CAR T cells are not as successful in chronic lymphocytic leukemia as compared to lymphoma or acute lymphocytic leukemia. She also discusses what she believes must change in order for this therapy to move up in the treatment landscape for CLL.

Jacqueline D. Barrientos, MD, MS,&nbsp;discusses the current treatment landscape for CLL. She also highlights some of the biggest challenges for physicians and gave her insight on how to move forward in the field.

Anthony R. Mato, MD, MSCE,&nbsp;discusses the next steps for umbralisib and the biggest challenges still facing patients with CLL.

Danielle M. Brander, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and member of the Duke Cancer Institute, discusses a major challenge in the field of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She says the biggest challenge to overcome in the treatment of patients with CLL is navigating areas where research is not yet mature.&nbsp;

While the approval of new agents represents a great step forward in the treatment of&nbsp;chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), physicians are now challenged with how to best utilize these new treatment options,&nbsp;according to a presentation by Anthony Mato, MD, MSCE, at the 2nd Annual Live Medical Crossfire: Hematologic Malignancies.

An updated analysis of obinutuzumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy for patients with treatment-na&iuml;ve or relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia detected no new safety signals. Investigators in the phase IIIb GREEN trial also found overall response rates greater than 80% at 3 months post-treatment in some patients.

According to long-term follow-up data from the phase III CLL11 study, treatment with obinutuzumab combined with chlorambucil&nbsp;reduced the risk of death by 24% versus rituximab plus chlorambucil in treatment-na&iuml;ve patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with comorbidities. These findings were presented&nbsp;at the 2018 European Hematology Association Congress.

Neil E. Kay, MD,&nbsp;a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, discusses the challenges that arise when treating a patient with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Most times, responses in this setting are short lived.

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc,&nbsp;discusses the findings with duvelisib plus fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab as a frontline therapy for&nbsp;younger patients with CLL, as well as the potential future for this agent in the treatment of patients with CLL.

Based on data from the phase III MURANO trial, venetoclax has been granted a regular approval by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, with or without 17p deletion, who has received at least 1 prior therapy.