High cell death rates at start of ibrutinib therapy predict for deeper remissions in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)

Researchers correlated CLL cell birth and death rates over time in relation to long-term outcomes in patients with CLL. They found that CLL death rates were higher in patients with unmutated IGHV, and that high CLL death rates were correlated with lower levels of minimal residual disease (MRD) detected by peripheral blood (PB). This data suggests that patients with CLL with unmutated IGHV may be more likely to achieve lower levels of MRD with ibrutinib therapy compared to those with mutated IGHV.