Dr. Fakhri on Ongoing Clinical Trials in CLL

Bita Fakhri, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses ongoing clinical trials in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The ongoing phase III Alliance A041702 trial is currently accruing patients ≥70 years of age with previously untreated CLL, says Fakhri. Patients will be randomized to receive obinutuzumab (Gazyva) plus ibrutinib (Imbruvica) or obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax (Venclexta). The study is unique in that the duration of ibrutinib is based on minimal residual disease at 1 year.

The ongoing phase III ECOG-ACRIN EA9161 trial is evaluating the same regimens—obinutuzumab plus ibrutinib versus obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax—in previously untreated patients ≤70 years of age. Both trials are going to read out pretty soon, says Fakhri. Although the ECOG-ACRIN trial has lagged a bit behind in enrollment, both trials are expected to be practice changing, concludes Fakhri.