Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment has changed dramatically with the emergence of novel targeted therapies. Data generated on CLL treatments are mostly from clinical trials, which are primarily conducted at academic centers. There are limited data on contemporary CLL treatment patterns in the community practice setting in the United States (US).
Methods: Adults with CLL who initiated treatment between November 1, 2013 and March 31, 2018 were identified retrospectively from electronic health records (EHR) from the CancerLinQ Discovery Research Database and followed up until March 31, 2019. A random sample of patients were selected for further study. Patients enrolled in clinical trials or who had another primary cancer diagnosis within 2 years of CLL treatment start were excluded. Index date was record of first treatment for CLL. Baseline demographics, comorbidities, and treatment characteristics were derived from structured data elements of the EHR or abstracted from clinical notes in the EHR.
Results: 338 patients with a median follow-up of 26.9 months (range, 0.5-63.8), were included. Median age at treatment initiation was 69.7 years; 57.1% were male (Table 1). Of patients (n=110) with a known Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score at diagnosis, 53.6% and 35.5% had an ECOG performance status of 0 and 1, respectively. The 3 most common treatments used for CLL regardless of line of therapy were rituximab (63.9%), ibrutinib (36.4%), and bendamustine (34.0%). Furthermore, the 3 most common comorbidities at index were hypertension (19.2%), anemia (16.0%), and thrombocytopenia (5.6%).
Conclusions: This is the first published real-world observational study in CLL using the CancerLinQ Discovery Research Database, providing information on baseline characteristics of patients with CLL receiving treatment in the community setting in the US. Additional analyses evaluating treatment-related adverse events and associated outcomes for CLL-directed treatments by line of therapy are ongoing.
Kabadi:AstraZeneca: Employment, Equity Ownership. Kumar:AstraZeneca: Employment, Equity Ownership. Wong:AstraZeneca: Employment, Equity Ownership.
