Dr. Akbar on the Efficacy of Monoclonal Antibodies Across Various Trials in R/R ALL

Usman Ali Akbar, MD, research coordinator, Division of Infectious Diseases, the University of Louisville, discusses the systematic review of the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies in adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

This systematic review evaluated phase 2 and 3 clinical trials to observe the outcomes associated with the use of monoclonal antibodies compared with standard-of-care (SOC) chemotherapy in adult patients with ALL. A total of 1330 patients were included in the systematic review.

For example, 1 of the studies evaluated was the phase 3 iNNOVATE trial (NCT01564784), which evaluated inotuzumab (Besponsa) in patients with ALL, Akbar says. Data from this trial showed a complete response rate of 74% with inotuzumab vs 31% with SOC, Akbar explains.

Moreover, a total of 794 patients were evaluated from phase 2 trials, Akbar continues. Observations from those trials revealed that antibody-specific drugs, such as inotuzumab, epratuzumab (LymphoCide), and rituximab (Rituxan), performed better than SOC chemotherapy, Akbar concludes.