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Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, MMSc
Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, MMSc
Posted: Tuesday, May 3, 2022
A nationwide study performed by Kerry A. Rogers, MD, of The Ohio State University, Columbus, and colleagues evaluated the time to treatment discontinuation of venetoclax plus obinutuzumab in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). Presented during the 2022 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Annual Conference (Abstract HSR22-153), their results revealed that individuals who were older, had a higher disease burden, and a higher risk for tumor-lysis syndrome tended to be more likely to discontinue treatment with this combination.
“Treatment utilization was more intense during the initiation phase, potentially related to tumor-lysis syndrome mitigation and management,” concluded the study authors. “Unmet therapeutic needs remain among patients at higher disease burden or tumor-lysis syndrome risk.”
A total of 232 adults with CLL or SLL who initiated first-line venetoclax-based regimens between April 2016 and July 2020 were recruited from the Flatiron Health electronic health record–derived de-identified database. Participants were observed for 12 or more treatment cycles before the end of data collection. Patient demographics were reported during the 12-month baseline period, as well as during the initiation and postinitiation phases.
The majority of patients (82.8%) received venetoclax plus obinutuzumab, followed by venetoclax monotherapy (8.6%), venetoclax plus rituximab (5.6%), and other venetoclax-based regimens (3.0%). Just over half of participants (58.9%) initiated treatment on or before July 31, 2020, and 3.5% developed tumor-lysis syndrome during the initiation phase.
With a median duration of treatment of 11.6 months, 68.1% of individuals completed 12 or more cycles, 20.4% completed 15 or more cycles, and 16.8% discontinued treatment before completing 12 cycles. While evaluating the time to treatment discontinuation via Kaplan-Meier analysis, the investigators found that the majority of patients discontinued venetoclax/obinutuzumab around the 12-cycle mark.
Disclosure: Dr. Rogers has received research funding from Genentech, AbbVie, Novartis, and Janssen (not for the present study); consulting fees from Acerta Pharma, AstraZeneca, Innate Pharma, Pharmacyclics, Genentech, and AbbVie; and travel funding from AstraZeneca. All other study authors are either employed by or served as a consultant to Janssen.
JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
