Patients with mantle-cell lymphoma who have a relapse after chemotherapy and anti-CD20 and BTK inhibitor therapy have a poor prognosis. An injection of CD19-directed CAR T cells induced a complete ...response in 59% of patients; 78% with a complete response were in remission at 1 year. About two thirds of patients had serious adverse events, a finding consistent with previous data.
Brexucabtagene autoleucel (KTE-X19) autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is approved for the treatment of relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Outcomes after ...a 3-year follow-up in the pivotal ZUMA-2 study of KTE-X19 in relapsed/refractory MCL are reported, including for subgroups by prior therapy (bendamustine and type of Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor BTKi) or high-risk characteristics.
Patients with relapsed/refractory MCL (one to five prior therapies, including prior BTKi exposure) received a single infusion of KTE-X19 (2 × 10
CAR T cells/kg).
After a median follow-up of 35.6 months, the objective response rate among all 68 treated patients was 91% (95% CI, 81.8 to 96.7) with 68% complete responses (95% CI, 55.2 to 78.5); medians for duration of response, progression-free survival, and overall survival were 28.2 months (95% CI, 13.5 to 47.1), 25.8 months (95% CI, 9.6 to 47.6), and 46.6 months (95% CI, 24.9 to not estimable), respectively. Post hoc analyses showed that objective response rates and ongoing response rates were consistent among prespecified subgroups by prior BTKi exposure or high-risk characteristics. In an exploratory analysis, patients with prior bendamustine benefited from KTE-X19, but showed a trend toward attenuated T-cell functionality, with more impact of bendamustine given within 6 versus 12 months of leukapheresis. Late-onset toxicities were infrequent; only 3% of treatment-emergent adverse events of interest in ZUMA-2 occurred during this longer follow-up period. Translational assessments revealed associations with long-term benefits of KTE-X19 including high-peak CAR T-cell expansion in responders and the predictive value of minimal residual disease for relapse.
These data, representing the longest follow-up of CAR T-cell therapy in patients with MCL to date, suggest that KTE-X19 induced durable long-term responses with manageable safety in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL and may also benefit those with high-risk characteristics.
Acalabrutinib is an irreversible inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase with greater specificity for the enzyme than the first-in-class agent, ibrutinib. It had substantial antitumor effects in a ...phase 1–2 study involving patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most prevalent leukemia among adults. Although chemoimmunotherapy prolongs the duration of remission and overall survival among most patients with CLL,
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relapse virtually always occurs. This has prompted aggressive discovery efforts for new therapies in CLL. Because B-cell receptor signaling is a driving factor for CLL tumor-cell survival,
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proximal kinases involved in this pathway have been therapeutic targets. Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is immediately downstream of the B-cell receptor and is essential for the activation of several tumor-cell survival pathways relevant to CLL.
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In addition, BTK is involved in chemokine-mediated homing and adhesion . . .
Treatment decisions for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are dependent on symptoms and classification into high-, medium-, or low-risk categories. The prognosis for CLL hinges, in ...part, on the presence or absence of less-favorable genetic aberrations, including del(17p), del(11q), TP53 dysfunction, and IGHV mutations, as these markers are associated with worse treatment response. Promising results from multiple clinical trials show emerging therapies targeting Burton tyrosine kinase, B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2, and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit delta result in better outcomes and prolonged progression-free survival for patients both with and without certain high-risk aberrations. Favorable outcomes using these novel oral targeted therapies, either alone or in combination with other treatments such as anti-CD20 antibodies, has led to their use almost entirely supplanting chemoimmunotherapy in the treatment of CLL. In this narrative review, we summarize the current clinical evidence for the use of targeted mono- and combination therapies for CLL, discuss new and next-generation treatment approaches currently in development, and provide insight into areas of unmet need for the treatment of patients with CLL.
Ibrutinib, a once-daily oral inhibitor of Bruton tyrosine kinase, has greatly improved outcomes for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The phase 3 RESONATE trial, which compared ...single-agent ibrutinib to ofatumumab in high-risk, relapsed patients with CLL, provided support for approval of ibrutinib in the United States and Europe. We describe long-term follow-up of patients treated in RESONATE, where continued superiority of progression-free survival (PFS) (hazard ratio HR, 0.133; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.099-0.178) was observed. Overall survival benefit continues (HR, 0.591; 95% CI, 0.378-0.926), although with decreased magnitude relative to that seen before crossover to ibrutinib was implemented for patients on ofatumumab (HR, 0.426; 95% CI, 0.220-0.823). Notably, overall response to ibrutinib increased over time, with 91% of patients attaining a response. The PFS benefit with ibrutinib was independent of baseline risk factors, although patients with ≥2 prior therapies had shorter PFS than those with <2 prior therapies, and the presence of TP53 or SF3B1 mutations showed a trend toward shorter PFS vs without these factors. Median duration of ibrutinib was 41 months, with 46% remaining on treatment at a median follow-up of 44 months. Grade ≥3 adverse events generally decreased over time, causing only a small proportion of patients to cease therapy. Ibrutinib was discontinued due to progressive disease in 27% of patients. This long-term study provides support for sustained efficacy and safety of ibrutinib in relapsed/refractory CLL and consideration of study provisions that allow crossover to investigational therapy when benefit has been clearly demonstrated. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01578707.
•Extended ibrutinib treatment showed sustained PFS in previously treated patients with CLL, including those with high-risk cytogenetics.•Overall survival outcomes were sustained and no long-term safety signals have emerged with 4 years of follow-up on ibrutinib treatment.
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Minimal residual disease (MRD) before myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is associated with adverse outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1). To ...compare this association with that for patients in second complete remission (CR2) and to examine the quantitative impact of MRD, we studied 253 consecutive patients receiving myeloablative HCT for AML in CR1 (n = 183) or CR2 (n = 70) who had pre-HCT marrow aspirates analyzed by 10-color flow cytometry. Three-year estimates of overall survival were 73% (64%-79%) and 32% (17%-48%) for MRDneg and MRDpos CR1 patients, respectively, and 73% (57%-83%) and 44% (21%-65%) for MRDneg and MRDpos CR2 patients, respectively. Similar estimates of relapse were 21% (14%-28%) and 58% (41%-72%) for MRDneg and MRDpos CR1 patients, respectively, and 19% (9%-31%) and 68% (41%-85%) for MRDneg and MRDpos CR2 patients, respectively. Among the MRDpos patients, there was no statistically significant evidence that increasing levels of MRD were associated with increasing risks of relapse and death. After multivariable adjustment, risks of death and relapse were 2.61 times and 4.90 times higher for MRDpos patients (P < .001). Together, our findings indicate that the negative impact of pre-HCT MRD is similar for AML in CR1 and CR2 with even minute levels (≤0.1%) as being associated with adverse outcome.
•The negative impact of pre-HCT flow cytometrically determined MRD is similar for AML in CR1 and CR2.•Even minute levels of MRD (≤0.1%) are associated with adverse outcome.
Acalabrutinib is a selective, covalent Bruton tyrosine-kinase inhibitor with activity in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. We compare the efficacy of acalabrutinib with or without obinutuzumab against ...chlorambucil with obinutuzumab in patients with treatment-naive chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
ELEVATE TN is a global, phase 3, multicentre, open-label study in patients with treatment-naive chronic lymphocytic leukaemia done at 142 academic and community hospitals in 18 countries. Eligible patients had untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and were aged 65 years or older, or older than 18 years and younger than 65 years with creatinine clearance of 30-69 mL/min (calculated by use of the Cockcroft-Gault equation) or Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics score greater than 6. Additional criteria included an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 2 or less and adequate haematologic, hepatic, and renal function. Patients with significant cardiovascular disease were excluded, and concomitant treatment with warfarin or equivalent vitamin K antagonists was prohibited. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) centrally via an interactive voice or web response system to receive acalabrutinib and obinutuzumab, acalabrutinib monotherapy, or obinutuzumab and oral chlorambucil. Treatments were administered in 28-day cycles. To reduce infusion-related reactions, acalabrutinib was administered for one cycle before obinutuzumab administration. Oral acalabrutinib was administered (100 mg) twice a day until progressive disease or unacceptable toxic effects occurred. In the acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab group, intravenous obinutuzumab was given on days 1 (100 mg), 2 (900 mg), 8 (1000 mg), and 15 (1000 mg) of cycle 2 and on day 1 (1000 mg) of cycles 3-7. In the obinutuzumab-chlorambucil group, intravenous obinutuzumab was given on days 1 (100 mg), 2 (900 mg), 8 (1000 mg), and 15 (1000 mg) of cycle 1 and on day 1 (1000 mg) of cycles 2-6. Oral chlorambucil was given (0·5 mg/kg) on days 1 and 15 of each cycle, for six cycles. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival between the two combination-therapy groups, assessed by independent review committee. Crossover to acalabrutinib was allowed in patients who progressed on obinutuzumab-chlorambucil. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of treatment. Enrolment for this trial is complete, and the study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02475681.
Between Sept 14, 2015, and Feb 8, 2017, we recruited 675 patients for assessment. 140 patients did not meet eligibility criteria, and 535 patients were randomly assigned to treatment. 179 patients were assigned to receive acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab, 179 patients were assigned to receive acalabrutinib monotherapy, and 177 patients were assigned to receive obinutuzumab-chlorambucil. At median follow-up of 28·3 months (IQR 25·6-33·1), median progression-free survival was longer with acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab and acalabrutinib monotherapy, compared with obinutuzumab-chlorambucil (median not reached with acalabrutinib and obinutuzumab vs 22·6 months with obinutuzumab, hazard ratio HR 0·1; 95% CI 0·06-0·17, p<0·0001; and not reached with acalabrutinib monotherapy vs 22·6 months with obinutuzumab, 0·20; 0·13-0·3, p<0·0001). Estimated progression-free survival at 24 months was 93% with acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab (95% CI 87-96%), 87% with acalabrutinib monotherapy (81-92%), and 47% with obinutuzumab-chlorambucil (39-55%). The most common grade 3 or higher adverse event across groups was neutropenia (53 30% of 178 patients in the acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab group, 17 9% of 179 patients in the acalabrutinib group, and 70 41% of 169 patients in the obinutuzumab-chlorambucil group). All-grade infusion reactions were less frequent with acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab (24 13% of 178 patients) than obinutuzumab-chlorambucil (67 40% of 169 patients). Grade 3 or higher infections occurred in 37 (21%) patients given acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab, 25 (14%) patients given acalabrutinib monotherapy, and 14 (8%) patients given obinutuzumab-chlorambucil. Deaths occurred in eight (4%) patients given acalabrutinib-obinutuzumab, 12 (7%) patients given acalabrutinib, and 15 (9%) patients given obinutuzumab-chlorambucil.
Acalabrutinib with or without obinutuzumab significantly improved progression-free survival over obinutuzumab-chlorambucil chemoimmunotherapy, providing a chemotherapy-free treatment option with an acceptable side-effect profile that was consistent with previous studies. These data support the use of acalabrutinib in combination with obinutuzumab or alone as a new treatment option for patients with treatment-naive symptomatic chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Acerta Pharma, a member of the AstraZeneca Group, and R35 CA198183 (to JCB).