Ask the CLL Pharmacist – July 2021 It has been said countless times that there is no such thing as a bad question. One important benefit of asking questions is that others often have the same or similar question, but they never asked. As a pharmacist and fellow chronic lymphocytic leukemia patient, I try to answer your questions based on my more than forty years of experience as a Registered Pharmacist. My answers are based on my professional training and experience, but they are not a substitute for discussion with your medical team. Question Dear CLL Pharmacist, I just ate one t ..read more

CLL Research – ALPINE Study Compares Zanubrutinib to Ibrutinib in Relapsed/Refractory CLL or SLL At the recently concluded European Hematology Association (EHA) 2021 Virtual Congress, Dr. Peter Hillmen, MB ChB, Ph.D., gave an oral presentation during the Presidential Symposium entitled: First Interim Analysis of ALPINE Study: Results of a Phase 3 Randomized Study of Zanubrutinib vs. Ibrutinib in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma. Professor Hillmen is a consultant hematologist (CLL specialist) at Saint James University Hospital (Nationa ..read more

CLL Research: Duvelisib and Venetoclax Show Early Promise in CLL/SLL or Richter’s Syndrome Dr. Jennifer L. Crombie, M.D. is a Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In December, Dr. Crombie gave an oral poster presentation at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting (ASH 2020). The poster’s title is Updated Results from a Phase I/II Study of Duvelisib and Venetoclax in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory CLL/SLL or Richter’s Syndrome. (Abstract 3141) Dr. Crombie is one of ..read more

Exciting News – FDA Grants Emergency Use Authorization for First COVID Monoclonal Antibody for Pre-Exposure Prevention of COVID for CLL/SLL Patients and Others at Risk! On December 8, 2021, the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for EVUSHELD, a combination package of tixagevimab and cilgavimab for pre-exposure prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in particular adult and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg (88 pounds). Tixagevimab and cilgavimab are neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal ..read more

CLL Research – RESONATE-2 Study of Ibrutinib as Frontline Treatment of CLL: Seven Year Follow-Up Data Dr. Paul M. Barr, MD of the Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester (NY), a CLL specialist and Professor of Medicine, is the lead investigator of the RESONATE-2 study of Ibrutinib as first-line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Dr. Barr presented a poster at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in June 2021. The poster’s title is Up to Seven Years of Follow-up in the RESONATE-2 Study of First-Line Ibrutinib Treatment for Patient ..read more

ACE-CL-001 Studies Acalabrutinib in Treatment-Naïve Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) In several recent posts, we covered the use of acalabrutinib in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This week, we switch gears with a review of the phase I/II ACE-CL-001 study of acalabrutinib in treatment naïve patients. Dr. John C. Byrd, M.D., the Department Chair for Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Health system, is the Primary Investigator for this trial. At the beginning of this study, Dr. Byrd was the head of the CLL program at the James Cancer Hospital ..read more

CLL Research – CLL Patient Survival Improves in Era of Targeted Therapies (ASCO2021) Dr. Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCOP, FASHP, FAzPA, the Pharmacy Clinical Coordinator for Hematology and Oncology – University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC), and Clinical Assistant Professor – University of Arizona College of Pharmacy led a team of pharmacists that presented a poster at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), that started yesterday. The poster’s title is Survival Trends in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in the Era of Oral Targeted Therapies in the United St ..read more

CLL Research: ACE-CL-208 – A Phase 2 Study of Acalabrutinib in Ibrutinib-Intolerant Patients with Relapsed/Refractory CLL ACE-CL-208 is a phase 2 clinical trial of acalabrutinib in ibrutinib-intolerant and had relapsed (returned)/refractory (didn’t respond to prior treatment) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL R/R). NCT02717611. The article outlining this study appears in the peer-reviewed medical journal Haematologica. Dr. Kerry A. Rogers, M.D., is the principal investigator (PI) for this trial. Dr. Rogers is a CLL specialist at the James Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Ohio State Univers ..read more

CLL Research: Phase 2 CAPTIVATE Study Suggests Role for Fixed-Duration Treatment of CLL/SLL Dr. William G. Wierda, M.D., Ph.D., is a CLL specialist and Section Chief for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. Wierda gave an oral presentation at ASH 2020 that begins to shed some light on the question of whether patients can come off treatment after attaining undetectable minimal residual disease (uMRD) from a fixed-duration treatment. Wierda served as lead- investigator on a clinical trial comparing patients who received placebo for ..read more

CLL Research: First Head-to-Head Comparison of Acalabrutinib to Ibrutinib for CLL/SLL The first results of the Phase III Study – ELEVATE R/R that compares the second-generation Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor (BTKi), acalabrutinib (Calquence®) to the first-generation BTKi, ibrutinib (Imbruvica®) were presented recently at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting as well as the Virtual Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA). This study looked at chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients who had received one or more prior treatments and had either deletio ..read more