An all-oral combination of the BTK inhibitor (BTKi) acalabrutinib (Calquence, AstraZeneca) and the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (Venclexta, AbbVie/Genentech) was more active and safer for the first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) than either of two long-standing chemoimmunotherapy standards used as controls, according to full results of a phase 3 trial. Top-line results were released previously.
Relative to FCR (fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, rituximab) or BR (bendamustine,