Dr. Al-Sawaf on the Efficacy of Venetoclax/Obinutuzumab in Treatment-Naïve CLL

Othman Al-Sawaf, MD, a physician at the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany, discusses the efficacy of venetoclax (Venclexta) plus obinutuzumab (Gazyva) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), as demonstrated in the phase 3 CLL14 trial (NCT02242942). 

Results from a long-term analysis of the study, which examined the combination vs chlorambucil and obinutuzumab in previously untreated patients with CLL, demonstrated that most patients who received venetoclax/obinutuzumab remain in remission, according to Al-Sawaf. Additionally, while many patients have not received additional treatment with either study regimen for more than 3 years, approximately 70% remain without disease progression, Al-Sawaf says. Moreover, only 35 disease progression events have been observed in the venetoclax/obinutuzumab arm, 17 of which have required an additional line of therapy, Al-Sawaf notes.

The majority of progression-free survival events in the venetoclax/obinutuzumab arm of the study were driven by deaths due to the patients' coexisting conditions or older age rather than CLL, Al-Sawaf adds. This suggests that the disease can be controlled with a fixed-duration treatment approach. These findings suggest that patients' quality of life is not dependent on their disease, but instead on coexisting conditions, Al-Sawaf says.

The ability to control the impact of disease on survival with a limited duration treatment approach in the frontline setting is a significant advancement in the field, Al-Sawaf concludes.