Dr. Allan on the Safety Profile of Ibrutinib in High-Risk CLL

John N. Allan, MD, an assistant attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, discusses the safety profile of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

During the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting, findings from a pooled analysis of 4 clinical trials evaluating the long-term efficacy of first-line ibrutinib in patients with CLL who harbored TP53 aberrations, including 17p deletions and TP53 mutations, were presented in a virtual poster.

Regarding safety, no new toxicity signals were observed with ibrutinib in this higher-risk patient population compared with previously reported findings of standard-risk populations, explains Allan. Nine patients (10%) discontinued treatment with ibrutinib due to an adverse effect; of these patients, 2 discontinued due to atrial fibrillation, and 1 each discontinued due to anemia, hemoptysis, platelet count decrease, pneumonia, rash, septic shock, and death.

Notably, patients included in this study were treated with ibrutinib in the frontline setting, so they may have been more fit compared with those who are treated with the agent in the relapsed/refractory setting, concludes Allan.