iwCLL 2021 | Combination treatment for refractory hairy cell leukemia patients
Tadeusz Robak, MD, PhD, of the Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland, discusses the main challenges surrounding the treatment of hairy cell leukemia. Purine analogues benefit the majority of hairy cell leukemia patients by providing deep and long- lasting remission: however, a significant minority of patients are refractory to this treatment, experience early relapse, or are unable to tolerate purine analogue treatment. Dr Robak reports recent clinical findings which found that a combination of vemurafenib and rituximab in hairy cell leukemia patients was associated with deep remission and significant rates of measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity. These findings may help to address the clinically unmet need in hairy cell leukemia patients who are resistant to and or cannot tolerate purine analogue treatment. This interview was conducted during the 2021 virtual international workshop on CLL (iwCLL).
