Ibrutinib: a novel Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor with outstanding responses in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

New treatment options are urgently needed for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who fail to respond to currently available therapies or cannot achieve a sustained response. Moreover, targeted agents with less myelotoxicity are necessary to treat patients with multiple comorbidities who would otherwise be unable to tolerate standard regimens. Ibrutinib, a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown highly encouraging results in phase I/II trials in patients with treatment-naive, relapsed and refractory CLL even in the presence of high risk disease or poor prognostic markers. In phase I/II trials, ibrutinib 420 mg or 840 mg - given continuously as single agent or at a dose of 420 mg daily in combination with a monoclonal antibody or chemoimmunotherapy - has been associated with high response rates and durable clinical remissions. Phase II and III trials are currently under way for treatment-naive patients, relapsed/refractory patients, and for those patients harboring a 17p deletion.