Dr. Choi on the Addition of Ublituximab to Ibrutinib in R/R CLL

Michael Choi, MD, hematologist/medical oncologist, associate professor of medicine, Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego Health, discusses the results of the phase 3 GENUINE trial (NCT02301156) examining ublituximab in combination with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) vs ibrutinib alone in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Data demonstrated the combination of ublituximab, an investigational anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, and ibrutinib elicited an improvement in progression-free survival in patients with high-risk CLL, including those with deletion 17p, Choi says.

This high-risk patient population generally delivers a lower depth and durability of response when administered ibrutinib alone, which could factor into the improvement with the addition of ublituximab, Choi continues. However, the difference may be due to the maintenance-based dosing strategy of ublituximab, as opposed to earlier trials where treatment was administered for only the first 6 months, Choi concludes.