Oral Targeted Therapy Has Been Proven To Be An Effective Treatment Option For High Risk Hairy Cell Leukemia

The oral targeted therapy drug ibrutinib is an effective treatment option for high-risk hairy cell leukemia, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – Jacques).

Hairy cell leukemia is a rare form of B-cell blood cancer diagnosed in 600 to 800 people each year in the United States. The researchers note that although the disease generally has a good prognosis for the majority of those affected, a small group of patients with disease variants do not respond well to therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). United or can not tolerate side effects. established therapies.

“There is a critical unmet need for treatment options in this subset of patients to achieve long-term cancer control,” said Dr Kerry Rogers, principal investigator of the clinical trial and hematologist / scientist at OSUCCC – James. “Our study shows that ibrutinib (pronounced eye-broo-ti-nib) is a safe, effective and well-tolerated option for patients with recurrent or variant forms of hairy cell leukemia. This is a very important finding for patients confronted with this diagnosis. “

For this Phase 2 clinical trial, a multi-institutional team led by OSUCCC – James recruited 44 patients with high-risk hairy cell leukemia to test the efficacy of the drug ibrutinib, 15 of whom were treated in Columbus, Ohio. , at OSUCCC – James.

All of the study participants had either classic hairy cell leukemia and had previously received other treatments, or a variant form of the disease for which standard therapies – the chemotherapy drugs cladribine ( pronounced KLAD-rih-been) and pentostatin (pronounced PEN -toh-STA-tin) – would be effective.

The researchers reported on their findings in the June 24 issue of Some blood.

Ibrutinib is an oral treatment in a class of drugs called Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors. These drugs block specific chemical reactions in the body that are involved in cellular processes. The use of the drug for this study was considered experimental; however, ibrutinib is approved by the FDA for the treatment of certain cancers, including mantle cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia / small lymphoma, and others.

“The underlying cell biology of these diseases is similar, so we wanted to determine if this FDA-approved drug that is used to treat other forms of blood cancer could also serve as an effective treatment for this small segment of patients with the disease. hairy cell leukemia that actually did not respond to traditional therapies, ”said Rogers, assistant professor at the Ohio State College of Medicine.

“Even though hairy cell leukemia is a disease with a generally good prognosis, there is a small group of patients for whom current therapies are inadequate to fight cancer,” Rogers added. “This is a new, effective and well-tolerated treatment option for patients with the more risky forms of hairy cell leukemia. It’s a very exciting development that could transform the survival of this subset of patients from months and years, to years and decades. “