Lights and shades of front-line treatment with covalent BTK inhibitors combined with venetoclax in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

This review focused on trials investigating the front-line covalent BTK inhibitors (cBTKi) and venetoclax (V) combination administered in a fixed-duration (CAPTIVATE, GLOW, AMPLIFY trials) or minimal residual disease (MRD)-guided manner (MDACC, FLAIR, ERADIC, HOVON NEXT STEP, SEQUOIA arm D trials) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We reviewed data from these studies to highlight their therapeutic activity and toxicity profile. Despite the heterogeneity in patients' characteristics, treatment schedule, and duration, most patients achieved deep responses with undetectable MRD and prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) with BTKi + V regimens. MRD-guided treatments yielded higher PFS rates, including patients with high-risk genetic characteristics, such as those with unmutated IGHV and <i>TP</i>53 disruption. The cBTKi + V regimen is easy to manage and relatively well tolerated. However, cBTKi-related cardiovascular toxicities remain a limiting concern, especially for the use of cBTKi + V in some older patients.