The Leukemia Team recently activated a phase 3 trial led locally by Guru Subramanian Guru Murthy, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology. The study evaluates the safety, tolerability, and disease response of two fixed-duration treatment strategies in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

“We hope to learn whether the investigational combination of sonrotoclax and zanubrutinib can improve outcomes when compared with the FDA-approved regimen of venetoclax and acalabrutinib,” Dr. Guru Murthy said. Both combinations pair two complementary targeted treatments: BTK inhibitors, which block proteins that help CLL cells survive and grow, and BCL-2 inhibitors, which block proteins that help CLL cells avoid death.

Treatment for CLL, which affects the blood and bone marrow, has moved away from traditional chemotherapy and increasingly toward therapies that attack specific survival pathways used by leukemia cells, Dr. Guru Murthy explained. The goal of studying these targeted treatments is not only to effectively control disease, but “to do so with a time-limited treatment approach that may allow patients to stop therapy and remain in remission rather than requiring indefinite medication.”

Dr. Guru Murthy said MCW has already been pivotal in evaluating sonrotoclax to treat CLL. In an earlier trial testing sonrotoclax—a next-generation BCL-2 inhibitor that is more potent than venetoclax—MCW had the highest enrollment of all global sites.

In this trial, participants will receive one of the two combinations for a planned course of treatment and will then be observed for up to six years. Researchers will primarily determine how well each regimen controls disease and how deeply each one reduces measurable residual disease.

The team plans to enroll 10-15 local patients per year, based on availability, as part of this international study. An estimated 500 participants will enroll at 105 study sites.