Coexisting conditions and concomitant medications do not affect venetoclax management and survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Anna Maria FrustaciGiovanni Del PoetaAndrea VisentinPaolo SportolettiAlberto FresaCandida VitaleRoberta MurruAnnalisa ChiarenzaAlessandro SannaFrancesca Romana MauroGianluigi RedaMassimo GentileMarzia VarettoniClaudia BaratèChiara BorellaAntonino GrecoMarina DeodatoGiulia ZamprognaRoberta LaureanaAlessandra CipicianiAndrea GalitziaAngelo Curto PelleFrancesca MorelliLucio MalvisiMarta CosciaLuca LaurentiLivio TrentinMarco MontilloRoberto CairoliAlessandra TedeschiPublished in: Therapeutic advances in hematology (2022)
• The question of which parameters may be informative on venetoclax outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia is still unclear. Furthermore, the choice to treat with venetoclax can be challenging in patients with baseline characteristics or comorbidities that may potentially favor some specific adverse events (e.g. compromised renal function or baseline neutropenia).• In our large series of patients treated outside of clinical trials, we demonstrated that neither age, fitness, comorbidities nor concomitant medications impact on venetoclax management and survival. Importantly, patients presenting with baseline neutropenia or impaired renal function did not have a higher rate of dose reductions or toxicity-driven discontinuations, thus further underlining that venetoclax may be safely administered even in those categories with no preclusions.• Differently from other targeted agents, our data demonstrate that none of the baseline factors commonly considered in treatment decision process retains a role with venetoclax. Finally, permanent dose reductions and temporary interruptions did not adversely impact PFS suggesting that, if clinically needed, a correct drug management should be adopted with no risk of compromising venetoclax efficacy.