Dr. Jain on PD-1 Expression in Nivolumab/Ibrutinib Combination in CLL

Nitin Jain, MD, assistant professor, Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses PD-1 expression in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were treated with the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ibrutinib (Imbruvica).

In the ongoing phase II trial, there were encouraging results of safety and activity. The overall response rate was 80% for patients with relapse/refractory CLL, and PD-1 expression on large cells appeared to predict greater activity in this cohort.

Prior research revealed increased expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 on CLL cells, which suggests that blocking these targets could aid in T-cell activation.