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Ibrutinib: A Review of Its Use in Patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia

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Abstract

Ibrutinib (Imbruvica®) is a first-in-class, potent, orally administered, covalent inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) that inhibits B-cell antigen receptor signalling downstream of BTK. Oral ibrutinib is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and for the treatment of patients with CLL and a chromosome 17 deletion (del 17p) or TP53 mutation. This article summarizes pharmacological, efficacy and tolerability data relevant to the use of ibrutinib in these indications. In clinical studies, ibrutinib induced a high overall response rate in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL (phase II study). In addition, ibrutinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival and significantly improved the partial response rate and overall survival in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL (RESONATE study), including in those with del 17p, a subgroup with a poor prognosis. Ibrutinib had an acceptable tolerability profile in these studies with <10 % of patients discontinuing treatment because of adverse events. Given its efficacy and tolerability, once-daily, oral ibrutinib is an emerging treatment option for patients with relapsed/refractory MCL or CLL and CLL patients with del 17p or TP53 mutation.

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Disclosure

The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding. During the peer review process, the manufacturer of the agent under review was offered an opportunity to comment on this article. Changes resulting from comments received were made by the author(s) on the basis of scientific and editorial merit. Esther Kim and Sohita Dhillon are salaried employees of Adis/Springer.

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    Esther S. Kim & Sohita Dhillon

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  1. Esther S. Kim
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Correspondence to Esther S. Kim.

Additional information

The manuscript was reviewed by: J. Delgado, Department of Hematology, Hospital Clinic, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain; M.M. Dreyling, Department of Medicine III, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; S. P. Mulligan, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; N. Reddy, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.

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Kim, E.S., Dhillon, S. Ibrutinib: A Review of Its Use in Patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. Drugs 75, 769–776 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-015-0380-3

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