Dr. Phillips on the Safety of Acalabrutinib Plus Bendamustine/Rituximab in MCL

Tycel J. Phillips, MD, assistant professor, University of Michigan Cancer Center, discusses the safety of acalabrutinib (Calquence) plus bendamustine and rituximab (BR; Rituxan) in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

At the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, Phillips presented data on the combination of acalabrutinib and BR in patients with treatment-naïve or relapsed/refractory MCL. High efficacy rates were observed, especially in treatment-naïve patients. Moreover, over 70% of patients experienced a complete response rate.

The combination was deemed safe and effective. Adverse-events seemed to be evenly dispersed between the treatment-naïve and relapsed/refractory patients. Traditionally, bendamustine is a safe backbone upon which to test novel therapies, says Phillips. Although a high rate of infection has been noted in other studies with bendamustine, this was not the case with the addition of acalabrutinib, he explains. Further analysis into T cell subsets could provide additional insight into the potential risk for infection.