The impact of early discontinuation/dose modification of venetoclax on outcomes in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia: post-hoc analyses from the phase III MURANO study

Fixed-duration venetoclax plus rituximab (VenR) has a manageable safety profile and improves survival in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We present data from the phase III MURANO study on the impact of venetoclax modification or premature discontinuation on outcomes in patients with R/R CLL. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards regression models, stratified by 17p deletion and risk status, evaluated the impact of venetoclax discontinuation/modification on investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Analyses were performed retrospectively (without type-1 error control) in intention-to-treat patients from the VenR arm of MURANO. Overall, 140/194 (72%) patients in the VenR arm completed 2 years of therapy; 54/194 (28%) patients prematurely discontinued treatment. Inferior PFS was observed in patients prematurely discontinuing venetoclax for any reason (disease progression excluded; p