The CLL treatment paradigm has changed significantly over the past decade, with targeted therapies such as Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors and BCL-2 inhibitors displacing chemotherapy-based treatments for most CLL patients.. 

Monotherapy with the BTK inhibitor Imbruvica has been the preferred first-line therapy among physicians, inducing durable remissions in most patients. However, most of these remissions are only partial responses, and long-term treatment is required, which can be complicated by adverse toxic effects (cardiac arrhythmias, fungal infections, and bleeding) and the emergence of resistance. As such, Imbruvica’s long-standing supremacy within the first line is now under threat from newer, more tolerable, and more efficacious BTK inhibitors. 

This Datamonitor Healthcare report contains a Disease Analysis module.