Ibrutinib: a review of its use in patients with mantle cell lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Ibrutinib (Imbruvica®) is a first-in-class, potent, orally administered, covalent inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) that inhibits B-cell antigen receptor signalling downstream of BTK. Oral ibrutinib is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and for the treatment of patients with CLL and a chromosome 17 deletion (del 17p) or TP53 mutation. This article summarizes pharmacological, efficacy and tolerability data relevant to the use of ibrutinib in these indications. In clinical studies, ibrutinib induced a high overall response rate in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL (phase II study). In addition, ibrutinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival and significantly improved the partial response rate and overall survival in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL (RESONATE study), including in those with del 17p, a subgroup with a poor prognosis. Ibrutinib had an acceptable tolerability profile in these studies with <10% of patients discontinuing treatment because of adverse events. Given its efficacy and tolerability, once-daily, oral ibrutinib is an emerging treatment option for patients with relapsed/refractory MCL or CLL and CLL patients with del 17p or TP53 mutation.