Monotherapy with ibrutinib prolonged survival longer than did standard chemotherapy using chlorambucil in the front-line treatment of older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in the phase 3 RESONATE-2 study.The developers of the drug had announced last summer that ibrutinib, an orally bioavailable, small-molecule inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, had achieved its primary and secondary endpoints. But the first full look at the data at the meeting showed ibrutinib reduced the risk of progression or death by 84% by independent review, compared with chlorambucil, which has been a standard first-line therapy in older CLL patients.
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