ASCO 2017 | Are combination therapies more effective for the treatment of relapsed refractory CLL?
Ian Flinn, MD, PhD, from The Center for Blood Cancers, Tennessee Oncology, Nashville, TN, talks about a study which looks at combining ublituximab, a new novel anti CD20 antibody, to ibrutinib for patients with relapsed refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL.) This study, known as the GENUINE study (NCT02301156), is a randomized trial where half the patients received ibrutinib alone and half with ibrutinib and ublituximab. Dr Flinn explains that patients who received combination nearly doubled their response rate and this patient population saw complete remission. Furthermore, a greater percentage of patients who were given the combination treatment were found to have MRD negativity in their blood than in those who used ibrutinib alone. This study has shown promising early results, however Dr Flinn explains that a significant progression free survival rate has not yet been seen.
Recorded at the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) 2017 Annual Meeting held in Chicago, IL.
