Academic History
Catherine Coombs, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine, Orange, CA.
After obtaining a medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, Dr Coombs underwent a Residency at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, followed by a Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. She took her first faculty position at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, where she developed a chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) program.
Dr Coombs has a special interest in new medications and innovative drug combinations to treat CLL. She is also interested in studying precursor conditions that may lead to blood cancers, such as monoclonal B cell lymphocytosis, clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance, and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential.
Speaking on the use of BTK inhibitors and degraders to treat CLL
Dr Coombs discusses the application of both covalent and non-covalent BTK inhibitors in the treatment of CLL. She highlights the ongoing BRUIN trial (NCT03740529), which is evaluating the effectiveness of pirtobrutinib as a monotherapy and in combination therapies. Additionally, she addresses the emerging evidence supporting the use of BTK degraders in CLL treatment.
