Tanya Siddiqi, MD, a hematologist/oncologist at City of Hope, discusses the CLL14 trial, which tested venetoclax (Venclexta) plus obinutuzumab (Gazyva) versus obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia and coexisting conditions.

Data from the open-label, phase III CLL14 trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that the addition of venetoclax to obinutuzumab reducted the risk for disease worsening or death by 65% compared with obinutuzumab/chlorambucil. Furthermore, the trial met its primary endpoint of investigator-assessed progression-free survival (HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.23-0.53; P < .001). The results, according to Siddiqi, were expected, but the study provided necessary hard data supporting the use of the fixed-duration, chemotherapy-free regimen as an option for patients with comorbidities.

Siddiqi says that she has many patients who are interested in receiving a finite therapy as opposed to indefinite treatment with ibrutinib (Imbruvica). For these patients, venetoclax/obinutuzumab may serve as an alternative option, allowing them to receive 1 year of therapy, to take a break from treatment, and then to see what happens over time.

These data are among the most exciting that have been reported within the past year, concludes Siddiqi.