ABSTRACT Zanubrutinib is a next‐generation selective Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi) with superior efficacy and lower cardiotoxicity rates seen in clinical trials over first‐generation ibrutinib in CLL/SLL patients. We present real‐world treatment patterns based on a practice change from ibrutinib to zanubrutinib in CLL/SLL patients in an integrated community oncology practice. We retrospectively analyzed adult patients who filled at least 3 months of zanubrutinib at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Treatment patterns, adverse events (AE), and mortality were reported. Two hundred eighty‐one patients received zanubrutinib; 190 patients switched from ibrutinib. Similar AE rates were seen with both BTKis, with a lower proportion of patients with treatment‐limiting AEs and lower cardiac AE rates with zanubrutinib. Most patients remained on zanubrutinib at the end of data collection without treatment‐related deaths reported. In the real‐world setting, zanubrutinib is effective and safe in patients with or without prior ibrutinib use, with low cardiotoxicity and AE rates, though data was limited by a difference in follow‐up time.
Krackeler et al. (Wed,) studied this question.