Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 24, 2025

Kinase Inhibitor Screening In Self-assembled Human Protein Microarrays
Published on: October 23, 2019
Pirtobrutinib after a Covalent BTK Inhibitor in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Anthony R Mato1, Jennifer A Woyach1, Jennifer R Brown1
1From Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (A.R.M.), and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center (N.L.), New York, the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine, Northwell-Hofstra, Uniondale (J.M.R.), Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Lake Success, North New Hyde Park (J.M.R.), and the Lymphoma Section, Department of Medical Oncology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo (F.H.-I.) - all in New York; the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus (J.A.W.), and Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland (D.J.) - both in Ohio; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School - both in Boston (J.R.B.); Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele and IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan (P.G.), and IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna Istituto di Ematologia "Seràgnoli" (P.L.Z.), and Dipartimento di Medicina Specialistica, Diagnostica e Sperimentale Università di Bologna (P.L.Z.), Bologna - all in Italy; the Center for Blood Disorders and Cellular Therapy, Swedish Cancer Institute (K.P.), and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Washington (C.S.U.) - both in Seattle; Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Churchill Cancer Centre, Oxford (T.A.E.), and the Department of Haematology, St. James's University Hospital, Leeds (T.M.) - both in the United Kingdom; the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw (E.L.-M.), and Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Krakow (W.J.) - both in Poland; Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC (C.S.T., J.F.S.), and Linear Clinical Research and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (C.Y.C.), and the Medical School, University of Western Australia (C.Y.C.), Perth, WA - all in Australia; Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (N.N.S.); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill (C.C.C.); the University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco (B.F.); Florida Cancer Specialists, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Sarasota (M.R.P.), and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami (A.J.A.) - both in Florida; Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta (J.B.C.); the Lymphoma Program, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (J.N.G.); Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Nashville (I.W.F.); Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago (S.M.); Loxo@Lilly (M.B., B.N., P.A., D.W., D.E.T.) and Eli Lilly (C.W., A.S.R.) - both in Indianapolis; and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (W.G.W.).
Background:
Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) have poor outcomes after the failure of covalent Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor treatment, and new therapeutic options are needed. Pirtobrutinib, a highly selective, noncovalent (reversible) BTK inhibitor, was designed to reestablish BTK inhibition.
Methods:
We conducted a phase 1-2 trial in which patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell cancers received pirtobrutinib. Here, we report efficacy results among patients with CLL or SLL who had previously received a BTK inhibitor as well as safety results among all the patients with CLL or SLL. The primary end point was an overall response (partial response or better) as assessed by independent review. Secondary end points included progression-free survival and safety.
Results:
A total of 317 patients with CLL or SLL received pirtobrutinib, including 247 who had previously received a BTK inhibitor. Among these 247 patients, the median number of previous lines of therapy was 3 (range, 1 to 11), and 100 patients (40.5%) had also received a B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) inhibitor such as venetoclax. The percentage of patients with an overall response to pirtobrutinib was 73.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 67.3 to 78.7), and the percentage was 82.2% (95% CI, 76.8 to 86.7) when partial response with lymphocytosis was included. The median progression-free survival was 19.6 months (95% CI, 16.9 to 22.1). Among all 317 patients with CLL or SLL who received pirtobrutinib, the most common adverse events were infections (in 71.0%), bleeding (in 42.6%), and neutropenia (in 32.5%). At a median duration of treatment of 16.5 months (range, 0.2 to 39.9), some adverse events that are typically associated with BTK inhibitors occurred relatively infrequently, including hypertension (in 14.2% of patients), atrial fibrillation or flutter (in 3.8%), and major hemorrhage (in 2.2%). Only 9 of 317 patients (2.8%) discontinued pirtobrutinib owing to a treatment-related adverse event.
Conclusions:
In this trial, pirtobrutinib showed efficacy in patients with heavily pretreated CLL or SLL who had received a covalent BTK inhibitor. The most common adverse events were infections, bleeding, and neutropenia. (Funded by Loxo Oncology; BRUIN ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03740529.).
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
Combination Therapies and Personalized Medicine
The combination of the drug acetazolamide and sulforaphane is a good example of combination therapy to treat cancer. The cells in the interior of a large tumor often die due to the hypoxic and...
Treatment Resistant Cancers
Pulmonary Tuberculosis V
Latent tuberculosis infection occurs when TB bacteria are present in a person's body, but are not causing illness or symptoms. It is not contagious, and preventive treatment is crucial to avoid the...
Drugs for Treatment of Crohn's Disease in IBD Using Biologic Agents: Anti-TNF

