Dr. John Byrd on Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase in CLL

John C. Byrd, MD, director of the division of hematology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the role of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Byrd says that BTK is expressed mostly in B-cells but also in some normal blood cells. BTK is crucial to the survival and proliferation of CLL as well as other B-cell blood cancers. Ibrutinib is an oral agent that inhibits BTK irreversibly and can be taken once daily to see contented effect.

A study was presented at the 2012 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition looking at ibrutinib in patients with naïve and relapsed or refractory CLL or small lymphocytic lymphoma. The results of the study showed that patients responded well to ibrutinib. Additionally, treatment was well tolerated in all CLL groups, including high-risk and older treatment-naïve patients.