Dr. Patel Discusses Zanubrutinib in MCL

Krish Patel, MD, medical oncologist, Swedish Cancer Institute, discusses zanubrutinib (BGB-3111) in the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

At the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, there was an oral presentation of the investigational BTK inhibitor zanubrutinib in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL who were treated in China. Overall, Patel says, response rates appeared to be quite high. In fact, the complete response rate (CRR) seen with zanubrutinib was reported at approximately 58%, which is slightly higher than the CRR seen with the FDA-approved BTK inhibitors ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and acalabrutinib (Calquence).

However, it is hard to compare zanubrutinib with the other BTK inhibitors because there have not yet been any head-to-head studies. With that being said, Patel notes that it will be interesting to see if this CRR advantage with zanubrutinib holds true in longer-term follow-up data. Patel adds that the toxicity profile of zanubrutinib also appeared to be favorable, with a low incidence of grade 3/4 toxicities and treatment discontinuation observed. Based on these findings, in January 2019, the FDA granted the inhibitor a breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of adult patients with MCL who have received at least 1 prior therapy.