Dr Seymour on the Curative Potential for FCR Treatment in CLL

John Seymour, MBBS, FRACP, PhD, director, Department of Hematology, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, medical oncologist, Hematology Department, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, discusses the curative potential of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

At the 2023 SOHO Annual Meeting, Seymour shared information on the development and implementation of various treatments within the CLL landscape, specifically focusing on FCR. In the presentation, Seymour emphasized that the treatment arena for patients with CLL has continued to shift and has come a long way since the development of FCR treatment, leaving behind this potentially curative treatment for a select subgroup of patients.

Seymour explains that this approach has curative potential for patients with IGHV-mutated CLL without TP53aberrations, since these patients have a favorable disease biology. Patients age also plays a role, as younger patients and those with adequate renal function are more likely to tolerate the FCR regimen. This subgroup of patients represents approximately 15% of all patients who may need treatment for CLL, Seymour says. However, only approximately half of this subgroup will be cured with FCR, Seymour concludes.

Although FCR could represent a curative option for small subset of patients, the regimen has been associated with myelosuppression, short- and long-term infection risks, nausea, renal and marrow impairment, and the risk for secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Seymour shares.