Dr. Winter on Emerging Agents in CLL

Allison Winter, MD, hematologist/medical oncologist, Cleveland Clinic, discusses emerging agents in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The pipeline of CLL is rich with investigational combination strategies, says Winter. In addition to safety and efficacy findings, minimal residual disease data may be used to determine which of these combinations will be optimal for patients.

Additionally, novel PI3K inhibitors are emerging in this space and appear to elicit less immune-related adverse effects compared with currently approved PI3K inhibitors, Winter explains. The BTK inhibitor LOXO-305 is another intriguing agent because it can overcome BTK inhibitor resistance. For example, LOXO-305 or potentially CAR T-cell therapy could have utility for heavily pretreated patients who received prior bendamustine and rituximab (Rituxan), ibrutinib (Imbruvica), idelalisib (Zydelig), and venetoclax (Venclexta), concludes Winter.