Authored by Ann Liu, PhD
Medically Reviewed by Ed Ratner, MD
There are two main types of Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi) that are used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) / small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). Covalent BTKi (ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, zanubrutinib) bind to BTK irreversibly, while noncovalent BTKi (pirtobrutinib) bind reversibly. Though BTKi can provide long remissions, many patients eventually relapse, often due to the development of resistance mutations. Rocbrutinib is an experimental dual BTKi that can bind both covalently and noncovalently to BTK. It can bind both to wild-type BTK as well as BTK with mutations that commonly cause resistance to covalent BTKi and noncovalent BTKi. It is currently being tested in clinical trials.
In this interview, Dr. John Byrd from UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Dr. Adam Kittai from the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone discuss some of the latest research being conducted on rocbrutinib in patients with CLL. Our coverage of two of the studies they discuss is linked below.
Phase 1/2 study: Dual BTK Inhibitor Rocbrutinib for Relapsed CLL
Phase 3 study (currently enrolling): Recruiting Trial: Rocbrutinib vs Pirtobrutinib for CLL
Links and Resources:
Watch the interview here:
