Dr. Barr on the Next Steps of the RESONATE-2 Trial in CLL

Paul M. Barr, MD, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Clinical Trials Office at the Wilmot Cancer Institute of the University of Rochester Medical Center, discusses the next steps of the phase 3 RESONATE-2 trial (NCT01722487) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

During the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, updated long-terms findings from the RESONATE-2 trial were presented virtually, demonstrating sustained progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival benefit with frontline ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in patients with CLL, including those with high-risk genomic features.

Further follow-up of the study is warranted and planned because single-agent ibrutinib is a widely utilized standard of care for the frontline treatment of patients with CLL and the median PFS has not yet been reached, says Barr.

Additionally, a number of combination studies with ibrutinib plus BCL-2 inhibitors, CD20-directed antibodies, and Akt inhibitors are underway with the hope of achieving deeper remissions in this patient population, Barr explains. Moreover, the goals of combination therapy are to limit the duration of therapy, improve the risk of adverse effects, and prevent resistance to BTK inhibitors, Barr adds. Early data have demonstrated high rates of response, undetectable minimal residual disease, and disease control, concludes Barr.