Many people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma benefit from ibrutinib treatment up to 8 years: a plain language summary

What is this summary about? This is a plain language summary of a publication describing long-term results from the RESONATE-2 study with up to 8 years of follow-up. The original paper was published in Blood Advances in June 2022. What were the results? Researchers looked at 269 adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who had not received any treatment for their CLL/SLL. Study participants were randomly divided into two groups: 136 participants received treatment with a drug called ibrutinib, and 133 participants received treatment with a drug called chlorambucil. Participants in the study were treated and followed for up to 8 years, with results showing that more participants who took ibrutinib (59%) were alive without worsening of their disease at 7 years after starting treatment than participants who took chlorambucil (9%). Almost half of the participants (42%) were able to stay on ibrutinib treatment for up to 8 years. What do the results of the study mean? In people with CLL or SLL, more participants who were taking ibrutinib were alive without worsening of their disease after 7 years compared with participants who took chlorambucil.