Dr. Shpall on Therapeutic Agents for the Treatment of CLL

Elizabeth J. Shpall, MD, professor, deputy department chair, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, Division of Cancer Medicine, medical director, Cell Therapy Laboratory, director, Cord Blood Bank, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses idelalisib and ibrutinib for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

This is an exciting time for researchers in CLL because there are a number of promising therapies, Shpall explains. The ones that seem to hold the most promise, she adds, are the tyrosine kinase inhibitors ibrutinib and idelalisib. These therapies, along with PI3K and BTK inhibitors, produce high response rates in patients.

However, these agents are not completely eradicating the disease, Shpall adds. In the future, these promising therapies could be replaced with cellular therapies in the hopes of generating complete remissions.