Highlights on chronic lymphocytic leukemia presented at the 2018 American Society of Hematology Meeting

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treatment strategies have improved and changed dramatically in the last few years. Insights presented at the last American Society of Hematology meeting changed standards of care in the first-line treatment. In patients <70 years with unmutated CLL, ibrutinib is the new standard resulting in a survival benefit compared to FCR (fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab). There was no progression-free survival or overall survival benefit in the subgroup of mutated patients for ibrutinib-based regimens. A randomized trial again showed no benefit of rituximab when added to ibrutinib compared to ibrutinib alone. Moreover, several promising treatment strategies in the relapsed/refractory setting were presented. The combination of ibrutinib with venetoclax reduces tumor lysis syndrome risk and generates MRD (minimal residual disease) negativity.