Dr. Tam Discusses BTK Inhibition in CLL

Constantine S. Tam, MD, associate professor, Peter MacCullum Cancer Centre, discusses BTK inhibition in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

In a dose-escalation study, the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) was explored in patients with CLL. Most of the current available agents aren’t selective enough and have not exploited the full potential of BTK inhibition in CLL, says Tam.

Remission rates has been observed at 34% in patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia when BTK inhibition has been pushed with higher rates of ibrutinib. By increasing the level of BTK inhibition, remission rates have more than doubled in patients.