Updates from the American Society of Hematology 2019 Annual Meeting: Practice-Changing Studies in Treatment-Naïve Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

The 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology took place 7–10 December in Orlando, Florida. At the meeting, results from key studies in treatment-naïve chronic lymphocytic leukemia (cll) were presented. Of those studies, phase iii oral presentations focused on the efficacy and safety of therapy with inhibitors of Bruton tyrosine kinase (btk) and Bcl-2. One presentation reported updated results of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group 1912 trial comparing the efficacy and safety of ibrutinib–rituximab with that of fludarabine–cyclophosphamide–rituximab in patients less than 70 years of age with cll. A second presentation reported interim results of the elevate tn trial, which is investigating the efficacy and safety of acalabrutinib–obinutuzumab or acalabrutinib monotherapy compared with chlorambucil–obinutuzumab. A third presentation reported on the single-agent zanubrutinib arm of the sequoia trial in patients with del(17p). The final presentation constituted a data update from the cll14 trial, which is evaluating fixed-duration venetoclax–obinutuzumab compared with chlorambucil–obinutuzumab, including the association of minimal residual disease status with progression-free survival. Our meeting report describes the foregoing studies and presents interviews with investigators and commentaries by Canadian hematologists about potential effects on Canadian practice.