Obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil packs 1-2 punch against CLL in elderly

This trial was an extremely interesting, large sample size, multinational planned and executed trial.

Patients with comorbidities, the population selected for this study, are the people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who need to be addressed. They form the largest majority of the CLL population. This study confirms that chlorambucil, which we in the United States have virtually thrown out of the window as totally ineffective, may not be so if you use it in combination with an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. These are excellent results that we have to keep in mind.

Dr. Kanti Rai is chief of hematology-oncology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y. He was the invited discussant of the study and disclosed serving as a consultant or advisor to Celgene, Genentech, and Teva and receiving honoraria from Celgene, Cephalon, and Genentech.