Dr. Davids on Exciting Data With Acalabrutinib in CLL

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, director, Center for Lymphocytic Leukemia, physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses exciting data with acalabrutinib (Calquence) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Acalabrutinib is a next-generation BTK inhibitor that is being studied extensively in CLL. The agent was designed to be better tolerated than ibrutinib (Imbruvica), although there are no randomized head-to-head data to support this yet, says Davids.

Data from the phase III ELEVATE-TN trial, which were presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting, showed a significant improvement in progression-free survival with acalabrutinib alone or in combination with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) versus chlorambucil/obinutuzumab in treatment-naïve patients with CLL. Data from the trial partially served as the basis for the agent’s approval in November 2019. The data with the agent showed not only promising efficacy, but tolerability as well, adds Davids.

Furthermore, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are evaluating the addition of acalabrutinib to venetoclax (Venclexta) and obinutuzumab in the frontline setting. At the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting, Benjamin L. Lampson, MD, PhD, also of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, presented phase II data showing that the regimen is highly active and well tolerated. Notably, 48% of the 37 patients treated with the triplet achieved undetectable minimal residual disease in the bone marrow after only 8 cycles of therapy; this percentage increased to 75% after cycle 16.