Dr. Hill Discusses Combinations in MCL

Brian T. Hill, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Hematology and Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, discusses combinations for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

There is a lot of interest in combining Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors with other agents, says Hill, including ibrutinib (Imbruvica) plus venetoclax (Venclexta) and ibrutinib plus ixazomib (Ninlaro). Ixazomib is an oral proteasome inhibitor that has known activity in patients with MCL.

The ongoing phase III PCYC-1143 trial is investigating the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL. Individually, both agents have achieved response rates of 67% to 75% in this patient population.

Ibrutinib is also being combined with monoclonal antibodies, which Hill says could be an interesting treatment strategy for patients with MCL.