TY - JOUR
T1 - The combination of venetoclax and rituximab for the treatment of patients with recurrent chronic lymphocytic leukemia
AU - Vitale, Candida
AU - Ferrajoli, Alessandra
N1 - Funding Information:
C.V. received a “Fondazione Pezcoller – Ferruccio ed Elena Bernardi” fellowship, from Pezcoller Foundation in collaboration with SIC (Società Italiana di Cancerologia).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Introduction: In patients with recurrent chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatment with targeted agents such as Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax is rapidly replacing chemo-immunotherapy regimens. Venetoclax has demonstrated his efficacy as monotherapy in patients with previously treated CLL, and has been evaluated in combination with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab. Areas covered: This review focuses on the activity and toxicity of the time-limited combination of venetoclax plus rituximab for the treatment of relapsed or refractory CLL, presenting clinical trial results and data from correlative studies, with the aim of highlighting the strengths of this treatment approach and discuss weaknesses and possible areas of improvement. Data from PubMed indexed papers as well as from abstracts presented at major international conferences are included. Expert opinion: Deep responses with venetoclax-based regimens have been shown to allow time-limited treatment and prolonged remission off-therapy in patients with CLL. The clinical benefit of venetoclax and rituximab over chemo-immunotherapy has been demonstrated in recurrent CLL. Potential advantages of time-limited treatment approaches include avoidance of long-term toxicities, high drug costs and the selection of resistant subclones.
AB - Introduction: In patients with recurrent chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatment with targeted agents such as Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax is rapidly replacing chemo-immunotherapy regimens. Venetoclax has demonstrated his efficacy as monotherapy in patients with previously treated CLL, and has been evaluated in combination with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab. Areas covered: This review focuses on the activity and toxicity of the time-limited combination of venetoclax plus rituximab for the treatment of relapsed or refractory CLL, presenting clinical trial results and data from correlative studies, with the aim of highlighting the strengths of this treatment approach and discuss weaknesses and possible areas of improvement. Data from PubMed indexed papers as well as from abstracts presented at major international conferences are included. Expert opinion: Deep responses with venetoclax-based regimens have been shown to allow time-limited treatment and prolonged remission off-therapy in patients with CLL. The clinical benefit of venetoclax and rituximab over chemo-immunotherapy has been demonstrated in recurrent CLL. Potential advantages of time-limited treatment approaches include avoidance of long-term toxicities, high drug costs and the selection of resistant subclones.
KW - chronic lymphocytic leukemia
KW - minimal residual disease
KW - rituximab
KW - time-limited therapy
KW - venetoclax
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U2 - 10.1080/17474086.2020.1796620
DO - 10.1080/17474086.2020.1796620
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32700593
AN - SCOPUS:85088430410
SN - 1747-4086
JO - Expert review of hematology
JF - Expert review of hematology
ER -