Dr. Hamlin on Toxicities Associated With Ibrutinib and Buparlisib in MCL, FL, and DLBCL

Paul A. Hamlin, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the toxicities reported in a phase I dose-escalation study of buparlisib plus ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), follicular lymphoma (FL), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Both buparlisib and ibrutinib (Imbruvica) have known toxicities, Hamlin explains. When combined, fatigue, gastrointestinal complaints, and rash were the most common toxicities reported. These were reduced with dose reductions. Buparlisib, he adds, is also associated with mood disturbances as well, which were also reported on the study.

Both of these small molecule inhibitors have mechanisms of resistance, creating the synergy between the two, he says.