Venetoclax – obinutuzumab combination treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and additional illness

Venetoclax is a targeted therapy that can be used in the treatment of CLL. It works by blocking the BCL2 protein that allows cancerous cells to grow. Obinutuzumab is also a targeted therapy and can be used in combination with venetoclax to treat CLL.  

However, the effectiveness and safety of venetoclax – obinutuzumab combination in patients with CLL and coexisting conditions are still unknown.  

This study involved 432 patients with untreated CLL and coexisting conditions. Patients were split into two groups with 216 patients each. One group received venetoclax – obinutuzumab (VeOb) and the other received chlorambucil – obinutuzumab (ChOb). The safety of each combination and the progression-free survival (PFS) was measured. PFS is survival without the disease getting worse. Patients were followed for an average of 28.1 months.  

In the VeOb group, 30 patients had disease progression or death. In the ChOb group, 77 patients had disease progression or death. PFS at 2 years was 88.2% in the VeOb group has compared to 64.1% in the ChOb group.  

Severe neutropenia (low level of white blood cells) occurred in 52.8% of patients in the VeOb group compared to 48.1% in the ChOb group. Severe infections occurred in 17.5% of the VeOb group compared to 15% in the ChOb group. Death from all causes was 9.3% in the VeOb group compared to 7.9% in the ChOb group. 

This study concluded that the VeOb combination provided longer survival than the ChOb combination in patients with untreated CLL and coexisting conditions.