Dr. Ghosh on Global Trials With Zanubrutinib in MCL and NHL

Nilanjan Ghosh, MD, PhD, director of the Lymphoma Program and a physician with Levine Cancer Institute, discusses global trials examining zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Several studies of interest are being done with zanubrutinib, says Ghosh. For example, 2 phase 2 studies with zanubrutinib are being conducted in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL; 1 study was done in Australia which included patients with MCL and the other study was done in China, primarily in patients with MCL. The overall response rate with the agent was around 84% and the median progression-free survival was around 17 months. The most common adverse effects observed in these studies were cytopenias, rash, and infections. Hypertension was also reported, which is similar to what is reported with most BTK inhibitors, although it was less frequently reported.

Although atrial fibrillation has been reported with other BTK inhibitors, in this study, it was not reported. However, that does not mean atrial fibrillation with zanubrutinib will never occur. In this study, atrial fibrillation was also not seen within the duration of follow-up. In the pooled analysis of patients with NHL, there was also a low rate of atrial fibrillation was reported with zanubrutinib, concludes Ghosh.