Dr. Leonard on Ibrutinib Combined With Chemotherapy in Follicular Lymphoma

John P. Leonard, MD, medical oncology, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, discusses the phase III SELENE study, which is examining the addition of ibrutinib to either R-CHOP or bendamustine plus rituximab for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL).

Ibrutinib is described as a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is active and approved for select patients with mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It also demonstrates activity in patients with FL and other indolent lymphomas.

Ibrutinib is being examined with the chemotherapy regimens in patients with relapsed/refractory FL or other indolent lymphomas in the SELENE trial, which hopes to improve progression-free survival. Ideally, researchers hope the combination will be associated with limited toxicities and improve overall survival and quality of life for patients.