Dr. Zelenetz on Potential of Acalabrutinib and BGB-3111 in CLL

Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, medical director of Quality Informatics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the potential with acalabrutinib and BGB-3111 for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Acalabrutinib and BGB-3111 are described by Zelenetz as "pseudo" next-generation drugs, as they both have similar mechanisms of action. Additionally, they both bind to the active site cysteine and covalently modify the drug.

Moreover, it is known that acalabrutinib and BGB-3111 do not interfere with antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in culture. Therefore, they should play better in vivo with monoclonal antibodies but this has to be proven. Zelenetz adds that there should be fewer T-cell effects with both agents, and that they can achieve high levels of occupancy of BTK and are very active in patients with CLL.