Dr. Tam Discusses the DUO Trial for CLL

Constantine S. Tam, MD, associate professor, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, discusses the randomized phase III DUO trial of duvelisib versus ofatumumab (Arzerra) in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

The phase III DUO trial investigated duvelisib, a PI3-kinase inhibitor, with the standard ofatumumab. Results showed that duvelisib was superior to ofatumumab in terms of progression-free survival (PFS). Median PFS was 13.3 months for duvelisib compared with 9.9 months in the ofatumumab arm. The drug is likely headed for an application for registration, says Tam.

This study randomized 319 patients with CLL/SLL in a 1:1 ratio to duvelisib at 25 mg twice daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, or ofatumumab at 300 mg on day 1, followed by 7 weekly infusions and 4 monthly infusions of 200 mg. Duvelisib reduced the risk of death by 46%.