In a nutshell
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an obinutuzumab and bendamustine combination in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. This study concluded that this combination appears to be effective in these patients and has manageable side effects.
Some background
Obinutuzumab (Gazyva) is a monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies attach directly to cancer cells to deliver treatments. Obinutuzumab can be used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Bendamustine (Treanda) is a chemotherapy used for CLL and other cancers.
Obinutuzumab has been shown to be more effective than rituximab (Rituxan, another monoclonal antibody) when combined with chemotherapy. It was unknown if combining obinutuzumab and bendamustine would be effective for CLL patients.
Methods & findings
This study involved 158 previously untreated patients with CLL. Patients were treated with six 28-day cycles of the combination of obinutuzumab and bendamustine. Patients were followed for an average of 32.8 months.
The overall response rate was 81%. The estimated 2-year progression free survival (survival without disease progressing) was 81.8%. Minimal residual disease (cancer cells that remain after treatment) was undetectable in 59.5% of patients blood samples and in 27.8% of patients bone marrow samples.
82.3% of patients had side effects of grade 3 or greater. 49.4% of these experienced neutropenia (low level of white blood cells), 12% experienced thrombocytopenia (inability to form blood clots) and 10.8% had febrile neutropenia (fever and low level of white blood cells). Side effects classified as serious included neutropenia (12.7%), febrile neutropenia (9.5%) and pneumonia (7.6%).
The bottom line
This study concluded that the combination of obinutuzumab and bendamustine is safe and effective in CLL patients.
Published By :
Leukemia
Date :
Apr 27, 2018
