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The World’s Leading Authority for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients
It’s been a month since my last post on progress in my trial of epcoritamab, a bispecific T cell engager (BiTE) for my chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Regular blood testing for those with CLL and SLL is an important part of managing the disease, as it can provide valuable insights into your overall health.
The first interim analysis of the Phase 2 HOVON 158/Next Step Trial was conducted halfway through a 15-month course of treatment with ibrutinib and venetoclax. As compared to baseline, PET-CT scanning showed a decrease in metabolic activity in all but one patient. However, despite the decrease in metabolic activity and, in some cases, normal metabolic activity on PET-CT scans, several patients had persistently enlarged lymph nodes.
Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who achieved undetectable measurable (or minimal) residual disease (uMRD) after fixed-duration ibrutinib + venetoclax treatment continue to have excellent outcomes four years after stopping initial therapy. The results of this study suggest that if patients achieve uMRD remission, it is safe to stop treatment.
At the 2021 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, CLL Society’s Medical Advisory Board Co-Chair Dr. Alex Danilov interviewed Dr. Arnon P. Kater, the lead author of this article and Chair of the Dutch CLL society, to discuss the evolving results of the Murano trial four years later. Please enjoy this interview and article about very hopeful treatment.
At the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2021, Dr. Sameer Parikh, a hematologist and oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, interviewed our own Dr. Brian Koffman, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the CLL Society. They discussed results from a survey of patients and caregivers.
Various combinations of venetoclax plus other agents such as venetoclax plus rituximab (RVe), venetoclax and obinutuzumab (GVe), or venetoclax plus rituximab plus obinutuzumab (GIVe) provide fixed duration treatment options with high rates of success.
MRD and Disease Monitoring Knowing how well you are responding to any therapy is going to help guide whether it should be continued, changed, augmented, or stopped. There are lab tests
The treatment landscape for those of us with CLL / SLL has changed dramatically in the past decade or less. We see decreasing reliance on chemoimmunotherapies that were the only option in the past. We have seen a move from sequential use of targeted therapies to control our CLL to combinations of drugs that allow patients to attain undetectable MRD.
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