Article
Anti-CD20 Antibody Improves Lenalidomide Performance in CLL
From 20 months to upto 5 years, blocking CD20 significantly improved OS in CLL patients.
Patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) lived twice as long when treated with lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus an anti-CD20 antibody compared with lenalidomide alone, a series of clinical trials showed.
Median overall survival increased from 20 months with lenalidomide alone to as much as much as 5 years with the addition of either of two monoclonal antibodies. As compared with lenalidomide alone, the combination improved response rate, time to treatment failure (TTF), and overall survival, Philip A. Thompson, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reported here at the European Hematology Association meeting.
"We observed similar results with lenalidomide and either ofatumumab (Arzerra) or rituximab (Rituxan)," said Thompson. "A subgroup of patients has highly durable remissions, even after cessation of treatment. Our focus for the future is on combining lenalidomide with more potent CD20 monoclonal antibodies and combining lenalidomide and a CD20 monoclonal antibody with other novel therapies.
Read the report here: http://bit.ly/1kSIKDQ
Source: Medpage Today
