Ibrutinib vs chlorambucil in CLL patients not suitable for chemotherapy

Thomas J Kipps, MD from the University of California, San Diego, CA, provides an overview of the clinical trial RESONATE-2 comparing ibrutinib with chlorambucil in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients not suitable to receive standard chemotehrapy. Ibrutinib is a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, that targets B-cells and causes them to leave the lymph nodes and bone marrow. This drug has been shown to be effective in the treatment of CLL and therefore it has been approved in relapsed disease as a single-agent. Patients in the ibrutinib arm had a longer progression free survival (PFS), and survival advantage over chlorambucil.