Dr. Shadman on Fixed Durations of Treatment in CLL

[Jm954]

Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH

Published: Monday, Jul 08, 2019

Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, assistant member, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, assistant professor, Medical Oncology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, and attending physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses fixed durations of treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

"Last year, many patients would likely opt for a chemoimmunotherapy regimen as opposed to an oral drug like ibrutinib (Imbruvica) because it is a fixed duration of treatment, says Shadman. After approximately 6 months, patients could enjoy their remission off treatment, which could last for years.

Now, patients have the added option of considering a nonchemotherapy drug that gives them the opportunity of potentially having a fixed duration of treatment. However, this is not a guarantee because studies, such as CLL14 or MURANO, were designed to give venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with a CD20-targeted antibody for 1 and 2 years, respectively. It is not yet known what happens after these patients stop treatment. In the phase III MURANO study, there are short-term data to suggest that patients who achieve a deep remission may be relapse-free for a long time."

See the video and more here: onclive.com/onclive-tv/dr-s...

Jackie

[t2aa]

This is my doc that I see on Monday to start Venetoclax!

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to t2aa]

WooooHoooo, lucky you !!!! Good luck for Monday

[Beattiem-UK]

Thankyou Jackie. We live in hope...

Beattie

[rafew]

This is the decision I'm facing now for treatment. Ibrutinib or Venetoclax plus Rituxan. Waiting for complete labs before making the decision. Thanks for the post.

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to rafew]

It's a difficult decision but good to have the choice.

You have no choice but to make a decision, it could be many years before we know which is best for which patients. At the moment, both look good.

Jackie

[Hidden]

Dr Shadman is the Dr who said I had 5-7 years before I would need treatment. That was January 2018. I started treatment 10 months later, November 2018. I believe that’s due to me being 11q deleted & unmutated.

There is still so much unknown. I chose BR because I wanted a fixed duration of treatment. There’s still too much unknown for the non chemo drugs. I’m 38 and will need treatment again at some point. I was told remission could be as short as 6 months but might be several years. I am hoping that they will know more by the time I need treatment again.