Targeted Drug with Chemotherapy Combo Offers Longer Life to Patients with B-cell Cancers

Mayo Clinic: Because of the significant benefit found in combining the targeted drug ibrutinib with standard chemotherapy for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), an interim analysis has closed the international HELIOS phase III clinical trial. Led by Mayo Clinic, researchers found that ibrutinib and chemotherapy (bendamustine and rituximab, known as BR) reduced the risk of death or cancer progression by almost 80 percent in patients with previously treated CLL or SLL, compared to use of BR alone.

Researchers Detail Reasons for Ibrutinib Therapy Discontinuation in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Ohio University. US: About 10 percent of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) discontinued therapy with the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor drug ibrutinib because of disease progression during clinical trials, according to a study published online by JAMA Oncology.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Also called: CLL

Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. White blood cells help your body fight infection. Your blood cells form in your bone marrow. In leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. These cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, making it hard for blood to do its work. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), there are too many lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell.

CLL is the second most common type of leukemia in adults. It often occurs during or after middle age, and is rare in children.

Usually CLL does not cause any symptoms. If you have symptoms, they may include

• Painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, stomach, or groin
• Fatigue
• Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs
• Fever and infection
• Weight loss

Tests that examine the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes diagnose CLL. Your doctor may choose to just monitor you until symptoms appear or change. Treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, surgery to remove the spleen, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses substances that attack cancer cells without harming normal cells.

More about Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Author: Dr Frederick Appelbaum Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle 2008-07-28

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is among the most common forms of leukemia, with approximately 10,200 new cases diagnosed in the United States in 2006. The incidence of CLL increases with age and the disease is uncommon in patients less than age 50.