Dr. Davids on Selecting Between Continuous and Time-Limited Therapy in CLL

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, director of clinical research in the Lymphoma Program and a medical oncologist with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses selecting between continuous and time-limited therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

With regard to frontline therapy, whether to give continuous therapies or time-limited regimens remains an unanswered question, says Davids. With time-limited therapies, another question to consider is whether to retreat patients with the same regimen at the time of progression.

Trials are beginning to parse out the optimal approach, Davids explains.

For example, the CLL17 trial will randomize patients with untreated CLL to 1 of 3 arms: venetoclax (Venclexta) plus ibrutinib (Imbruvica), venetoclax plus obinutuzumab (Gazyva), or ibrutinib alone.