Improvements in Health-Related Quality of Life and Symptoms in Patients with Previously Untreated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Final Results from the Phase II GIBB Study of the Combination of Obinutuzumab and Bendamustine

Introduction: Longitudinal changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are important in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). GIBB (NCT02320487) is an open-label, single-arm phase II study of obinutuzumab (GA101; G) in combination with bendamustine (G-Benda) in patients with previously untreated CLL. A previous report from the GIBB study demonstrated an investigator-assessed objective response rate of 89.2%, a complete response rate of 49.0%, and no unexpected safety signals with G-Benda (Sharman et al. J Clin Oncol 2017). Here we report the final HRQoL data over 3 years from the GIBB study.

Methods: Enrolled patients received G-Benda by intravenous infusion over six 28-day cycles: G 100mg on Day (D)1, 900mg on D2, and 1000mg on D8 and D15 of Cycle (C)1, then 1000mg on D1 of C2-6; benda 90mg/m² on D2-3 of C1, and on D1-2 of C2-6. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) includes a global health status measure, 5 functional scales (physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and role functioning), 8 symptom scales/items (fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, and diarrhea), and an item on financial difficulties (Aaronson et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 1993). The EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia 16 (QLQ-CLL16) is a 16-item module, specific to CLL, containing 4 multi-item scales (fatigue, treatment side effects, disease symptoms, and infection) and 2 single items (social activities and future health worries). Both questionnaires were completed by patients on C1D1 (baseline), C3D1, and C6D1, at the end of induction (EOI) treatment (defined as +28 days from C6D1 or early treatment termination visit), at the response visit (defined as 2-3 months after the EOI treatment for all patients who received study treatment and had not experienced disease progression), and every 3 months thereafter at follow-up visits for up to 2 years. In total, there were 14 timepoints where data were collected. HRQoL scores were linear transformed to a 0-100-point scale. Mean baseline scores and mean score changes from baseline at each visit were evaluated. A threshold of ≥10-point change in score represents a clinically meaningful difference. For symptoms, negative change scores from baseline reflect an improvement in symptom burden. For global health status and functioning, positive change scores from baseline reflect improvements.

Results: The trial enrolled 102 patients. Median age was 61 years and 68.4% of patients were male. Ninety-eight patients (96%) completed a questionnaire at baseline and at least 1 other questionnaire during a follow-up visit. Questionnaire completion rates at 14 time points ranged from 96% at baseline to 66% at 27 months follow-up (Table 1). According to the EORTC QLQ-C30 (Figure 1), improvements were observed for global health status at all follow-up visits, and clinically meaningful improvements were observed at the response visit, 3 months follow-up, and 27 months follow-up. Clinically meaningful improvements in role functioning were observed at EOI and persisted throughout the 27-month follow-up. For fatigue, clinically meaningful improvements were observed at every visit starting from the end of treatment (EOT) visit. Improvements were also observed for insomnia with mean reductions from baseline ≥10 points at various time points during follow-up. There was no worsening in other patient-reported symptoms or functional status over time. Similarly, with the EORTC QLQ-CLL16 (Figure 2), clinically meaningful improvements in symptoms were observed for fatigue, disease symptoms, and future health worries during treatment, at the EOT and/or throughout the follow-up. The largest improvement was observed for fatigue (-24.7) at the 24-month follow-up and future health worries (-25.4) at the 27-month follow-up.

Conclusions: We previously reported that G-Benda is an effective regimen for first-line treatment of CLL with no unexpected safety signals. The HRQoL data from the GIBB trial suggest that G-Benda treatment consistently improved patient HRQoL over time. Several clinically meaningful improvements were observed in HRQoL, including global health status, functioning, symptoms, and future health worries.

View largeDownload slide

View largeDownload slide

Close modal