Dr. Dimopoulos on Ibrutinib/Rituximab Treatment for Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

Meletios Dimopoulos, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Clinical Therapeutics at the University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece, discusses a study analyzing ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and rituximab (Rituxan) treatment for patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). The research was presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The trial, which included 150 randomized patients with a median age of 69, found that ibrutinib and rituximab should be considered a standard therapeutic treatment option for patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. Overall and major response rates were higher for ibrutinib and rituximab versus the standard placebo/rituximab treatment, 92% versus 47% and 72% versus 32%, respectively. Improvements in hemoglobin were also seen in 73% of patients who received ibrutinib and rituximab (P <.0001). The median treatment time was 29 months.

Dimopoulos says that the primary endpoint of the study was progression-free survival, with secondary points in overall survival, response, safety and tolerability.