Alemtuzumab Plus Oral Dexamethasone, Followed by Alemtuzumab Maintenance or Allogeneic Transplantation in Ultra High-Risk CLL: Updated Results From a Phase II Study of the Gcllsg and fcgcll/MW

Abstract Abstract 716 CLL patients characterized by 17p-, TP53 mutation or refractoriness to fludarabine (F)-based therapy show a very poor prognosis (“ultra high-risk CLL”). Although alemtuzumab (A) showed efficacy in these cohorts, the rate and duration of remissions remain unsatisfactory. Aim of the CLL2O study was to achieve higher overall response rates (ORR) by adding high-dose dexamethasone (D) to A during induction and investigating the consolidation effect of prolonged A or allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (allo-SCT), respectively. Induction treatment consisted of subcutaneous A, 30 mg weekly × 3 for 28 days, combined with oral D, 40 mg on days 1–4 and 15–18, and prophylactic p…