Dr. Barr on the Rationale for the Long-Term Evaluation of the RESONATE-2 Trial in CLL

Paul M. Barr, MD, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Clinical Trials Office at the Wilmot Cancer Institute of the University of Rochester Medical Center, discusses the rationale for the long-term analysis of the phase 3 RESONATE-2 trial (NCT01722487) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Initial findings from the RESONATE-2 trial demonstrated superior progression-free survival with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) compared with chlorambucil in patients with previously untreated CLL, says Barr. These findings served as the basis for the March 2016 FDA approval of frontline ibrutinib in this patient population, Barr explains.

During the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, updated findings from the study showed that 47% of patients treated with ibrutinib remained on study treatment at a follow-up of up to 7 years. The primary reasons for treatment discontinuation included unacceptable toxicity in 23% of patients and progressive disease in 12% of patients, concludes Barr.