Do Venetoclax Combinations Trump Chemotherapy in Frontline CLL Treatment?

By Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP - Last Updated: July 27, 2023

Is there a venetoclax combination that reigns supreme in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)? Is venetoclax-based therapy the way to go in treating frontline CLL?

In this episode of The HemOnc Pulse, Nitin Jain, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, shares his thoughts on these questions with host Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP.

Dr. Jain highlights results from a phase III study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study, which included nearly 1,000 fit patients with CLL, compared chemoimmunotherapy with three venetoclax-based combinations, including venetoclax plus rituximab, venetoclax plus obinutuzumab, and venetoclax plus obinutuzumab and ibrutinib.

Dr. Jain said these results show why of one the treatments studied “remains a standard of care for young patients.”

Beyond venetoclax, Dr. Jain discusses second-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors, limited-duration therapy with novel agents in the frontline setting, and more.

Find all episodes of The HemOnc Pulse here.

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Editorial Board

Sagar Lonial, MD, FACPEditor-in-Chief | Chief Medical Officer of Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University School of Medicine

Guillermo Garcia-Manero, MDAssociate Editor | Chief, Section of Myelodysplastic Syndromes, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Elias Jabbour, MDExecutive Editor | DB Lane Cancer Research Fund Distinguished Professor in Leukemia Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Kami Maddocks, MDAssociate Editor | Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University

Thomas Martin, MDAssociate Editor | Clinical Research Director, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Jerald Radich, MDAssociate Editor | Professor in the Clinical Research Division and Kurt Enslein Endowed Chair at Fred Hutch

Laurie Sehn, MD, MPHAssociate Editor | Clinical Professor of Medical Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer

Do Venetoclax Combinations Trump Chemotherapy in Frontline CLL Treatment?

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