Treatment options are limited for both relapsed/refractory primary and secondary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma and the prognosis remains poor. Prior studies have shown the activity of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors and programmed death-1 targeted therapies in CNS lymphoma and studies suggested potential synergy. Therefore, we conducted a phase 2 trial combining ibrutinib with nivolumab for patients with relapsed/refractory CNS lymphoma. Patients received ibrutinib 560mg oral daily with nivolumab 240mg IV every 14 days (28-days per cycle). Patients who were in partial or complete response after 6 cycles of treatment could continue therapy for up to 2 years unless progression or unacceptable toxicity. Eighteen patients were enrolled with the median age was 63 years (range 43-88). The median number of prior lines of therapy was 2 (range, 1-4), 55% had refractory disease, 17% had prior stem cell transplant, and 11% had prior CAR T-cell therapy. The best overall response rate was 78% and the best complete response rate was 50% (95% CI: 26-74%). The median PFS and OS was 6.5 months and 21.0 months, respectively and three patients continue to be in remission over two years. Treatment was generally well tolerated but two patients stopped treatment due to fatigue. Ibrutinib and nivolumab resulted in reasonable safety and clinical activity in patients with refractory/relapsed CNS lymphoma and warrants further investigation. NCT03770416.
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