Continuous venetoclax in treatment-naive TP53 disrupted patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: A chronic lymphocytic leukemia campus study

Frontline Therapy of CLL-Changing Treatment Paradigms

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The therapeutic landscape for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has undergone a complete makeover following the introduction of highly effective targeted therapies, beginning with ibrutinib which first attained regulatory approval for CLL in 2014.

RECENT FINDINGS

In recent years, we have seen further refinement of therapeutic options with the development of newer-generation Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi) including acalabrutinib and zanubrutinib that improve upon the safety of ibrutinib. Additionally, venetoclax-based approaches, combined with anti-CD20 antibodies, have allowed for time-limited targeted therapeutic strategies which are particularly attractive for certain subsets of patients though have demonstrated efficacy across all subgroups. Lastly, there is an ongoing movement toward the development of time-limited strategies inclusive of both a BTKi and venetoclax that may further widen potential options. CLL patients requiring frontline therapy have a unique burden of choice between highly effective therapies that differ substantially with respect to side effect profiles and schedules. This review will focus on the frontline management of CLL in the setting of these rapidly changing options.

Innovative Combinations, Cellular Therapies and Bispecific Antibodies for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Narrative Review

In the last few years, several agents targeting molecules that sustain the survival and the proliferation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells have become clinically available. Most of these drugs target surface proteins, such as CD19 or CD20, via monoclonal or bispecific monoclonal antibodies (BsAbs), CAR T cells, intracellular proteins like BTK by using covalent or non-covalent inhibitors or BCL2 with first or second generation BH3-mimetics. Since the management of CLL is evolving quickly, in this review we highlighted the most important innovative treatments including novel double and triple combination therapies, CAR T cells and BsAbs for CLL. Recently, a large number of studies on novel combinations and newer strategic options for CLL therapy have been published or presented at international conferences, which were summarized and linked together. Although the management of treatment with a single continuous agent is easier, the emergence of protein mutations, long-term toxicities and costs are important concerns that favor the use of a fixed duration therapy. In the future, a measurable residual disease (MRD)-guided treatment cessation and MRD-based re-initiation of targeted therapy seems to be a more feasible approach, allowing identification of the patients who might benefit from continuous therapy or who might need a consolidation with BsAbs or CAR T cells to clear the neoplastic clone.