Dr. Davids Discusses Findings From DUO Study in CLL

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, associate director, Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses updated findings from the DUO study in patients with CLL.

The phase III DUO study compared the use of single-agent duvelisib (Copiktra) with that of ofatumumab (Arzerra) monotherapy and demonstrated a clear survival advantage to the PI3K inhibitor. In the updated analysis presented at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, patients who experienced disease progression on ofatumumab were crossed over to duvelisib. Median progression-free survival was 15 months on duvelisib post-crossover compared with 9 months for the patients treated with ofatumumab pre-crossover.

There did not appear to be any detriment to being treated with ofatumumab first in terms of duvelisib response, says Davids. The drug was generally well tolerated for most patients, although there are some adverse events that need to be monitored closely and managed proactively, such as diarrhea and colitis.