ERIC 2024 | A study investigating the incidence of treatment-emergent autoimmune cytopenias in CLL

Based on our previous blood paper that was showing this higher incidence of treatment emergent autoimmune cytopenia in patients receiving venetoclax single agent, we started this collaborative project, which is actually an ERIC project, so it’s involving a very larger number of sites and physicians. The interesting thing on our initial observation, on our initial paper, was that there was a small subset of patients receiving venetoclax in combination with rituximab. In this small subset of patients, we didn’t observe any new onset autoimmune cytopenia. So based on that, the aim of this large collaborative project is to see whether there is a differential impact in terms of recurrences of autoimmunity or new onset of autoimmunity in patients who are receiving venetoclax single agent compared to venetoclax administered in combination with other drugs. So mostly anti-CD20, monoclonal antibodies and ibrutinib. Also because the hypothesis is that both type of drugs can be beneficial in terms of controlling the autoimmune phenomena. Now the project is almost completing the data collection. As I said, there are more than 50 centers inside thanks to the ERIC involvement in the project. So there is a very large network of sites contributing. We are reaching maybe more than 1,000 patients which will be evaluated. We have almost completed data collection and we are starting very soon with data analysis. So hopefully in the very next few months we will be able to give you some more information on the results.