Plain language summary of zanubrutinib or ibrutinib in chronic lymphocytic leukemia that is resistant to treatment or has come back after treatment

• Authors: BROWN Jennifer R; EICHHORST Barbara; HILLMEN Peter; JURCZAK Wojciech; KAZMIERCZAK Maciej; LAMANNA Nicole; O'BRIEN Susan M; TAM Constantine S; QIU Lugui; ZHOU Keshu; SIMKOVIC Martin; MAYER Jiří; GILLESPIE-TWARDY Amanda; FERRAJOLI Alessandra; GANLY Peter S; WEINKOVE Robert; GROSICKI Sebastian; MITAL Andrzej; ROBAK Tadeusz; OSTERBORG Anders; YIMER Habte A; SALMI Tommi; WANG Megan-Der-Yu; FU Lina; LI Jessica; WU Kenneth; COHEN Aileen; SHADMAN Mazyar
• Year of publication: 2024
• Type: Article in Periodical (without peer review)
• MU Faculty or unit: Faculty of Medicine
• Description: What is this summary about?This is a plain language summary of a research study called ALPINE. The study involved people who had been diagnosed with, and previously treated at least once for, relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). Lymphocytes help to find and fight off viruses and infections in the body, but when someone has CLL or SLL, the body creates abnormal lymphocytes, leaving the patient with a weakened immune system and susceptible to illness. In CLL, these lymphocytes are in the bone marrow and bloodstream, whereas for SLL, they are mostly found in the lymph nodes, such as those in the neck.How was the research done?The ALPINE study was designed to directly compare the cancer-fighting effects and side effects of zanubrutinib and ibrutinib as treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory CLL/SLL.What were the results?After 30 months, zanubrutinib was more effective than ibrutinib at reducing and keeping the cancer from coming back.