PCI-32765 (ibrutinib) is one of the new generation of targeted kinase inhibitors that is getting a lot of attention.  ASCO 2012 had three important papers on this drug.  So far, so good!  But please make sure you read the Editorial section as well, where I highlight some adverse effect concerns based on feedback I got from people taking this drug.

Last month I was invited to speak at the CLL-PAG conference in Canada.  One of the other speakers was Dr. Mike Keating.  He prophesied that in the next 2-3 years chemotherapy as we know it today will become obsolete and we will begin curing CLL patients without such barbaric & toxic stuff.  Here is the technology that he thinks will do it.

This article reviews an important phase-3, large scale, double arm trial that has just opened for recruiting previously treated patients.  The trial looks to compare CAL-101 + Rituxan vs. Rituxan alone.  Before you sign up, you really, truly need to understand the details of the design of this trial.

Kinase inhibitors such as PCI-32765 are going to play an important role for CLL patients.  How important?  How best to use them? What are realistic adverse effects?  Who is most likely to benefit?  This well designed NIH / NCI clinical trial will help answer these questions – without conflict of interest or good science taking a backseat to commercial hype. We really need this trial.  Merry Christmas to us all! 

PCI-32765 is a very interesting kinase inhibitor drug, similar to CAL-101.  Here is the latest information on this drug presented at ASH2011 (December, 2011) conference.  This and other next generation designer drugs like it may change the whole ballgame for CLL patients living today.

This year’s ASH (American Society of Hematology) conference has a number of interesting presentations for CLL patients.  I will be reviewing some of them in the next few days.  This first review deals with CAL-101 single agent study, followed by combination drug studies in a few days.

New T-cell based therapy research findings from the University of Pennsylvania have received rave reviews in the lay press.  Is this a breakthrough or just more hype? What exactly is the breakthrough?  Here are the details for your reading pleasure.  You can bet I will be keeping a close eye on future developments in this area.

There has been a recent impressive breakthrough for ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) – but I have been following this “BiTE” technology for a long time. CLL could be the next big target for this bispecific antibody.  And if I were a betting type, I would bet on this technology.

It is hard not to get carried away by the hype and buzz that has surrounded CAL-101.  But it pays to remember these are early days and there is yet a lot to be learned.  Is the glass half full or half empty?  I guess it depends on your personality type and how you read the latest results of this clinical trial: single agent CAL-101 in previously treated CLL patients.

PCI-32765 is a kinase inhibitor, a Bruton kinase inhibitor that is getting a lot of attention as a new  and potentially valuable drug in CLL.  Here is the latest information on how patients are doing in the early stage trials