Dr. Kaplan on the Combination of Ibrutinib and Venetoclax in MCL

Lawrence D. Kaplan, MD, clinical professor of medicine, director, Adult Lymphoma Program, division of Hematology-Oncology, University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the combination of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

The combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax is being investigated in MCL, which Kaplan notes are the 2 most active agents in relapsed/refractory MCL. The combination has also been investigated in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and is in an ongoing randomized phase III trial.

One of the main endpoints of investigation in the MCL trial is minimal residual disease (MRD), says Kaplan. As has also been the case in CLL, the combination seems to induce a significant increase in the outcomes of MRD negativity. The question remains whether the combination will result in progression-free survival benefit for patients with MCL. Additionally, the trial was fairly small, so physicians will need to see more data to thoroughly evaluate the combination in MCL.