Dr. Cull explains below the significant findings this has for patients:

 

Results of studies conducted at the Haematology Department, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, were published recently in Blood journal and showed that zanubrutinib is a safe and very effective treatment for patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). WM is a form of low grade lymphoma which involves the bone marrow and causes problems with low blood counts as it gets worse. The ASEPN study1 compared the efficacy and safety of ibrutinib, a first generation BTK-inhibitor, with zanubrutinib, a novel, highly selective BTK-inhibitor. While both drugs were highly effective in the treatment of WM, zanubrutinib was associated with less side-effects, including atrial fibrillation, and a trend toward better response quality. These results are consistent with the 3-year follow-up data of zanubrutinib in patients with WM, also published recently in Blood journal2. Together, these studies confirm that zanubrutinib is a very effective treatment for patients with relapsed WM and is associated with a low incidence of side-effects.

 

1.       Tam, CS, et al. A randomized phase 3 trial of zanubrutinib versus ibrutinib in symptomatic Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia: The ASPEN study. Blood. 2020; doi: 10.1182/blood.2020006844

2.       Trotman, J, et al. Zanubrutinib for the treatment of patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia: three years of follow-up. Blood. 2020; doi: 10.1182/blood.2020006449