Obinutuzumab: A FDA approved monoclonal antibody in the treatment of untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an adult lymphoid malignancy with a variable clinical course. There is considerable interest in the identification of new treatments, as most current approaches are not curative. While most patients respond to initial chemotherapy, relapsed disease is often resistant to the drugs commonly used in CLL and patients are left with limited therapeutic options. Obinutuzumab is recently approved in combination with chlorambucil for people with previously untreated CLL and is additionally being investigated in a large clinical program, including multiple head-to-head phase III studies compared with Rituxan in indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. In this article, author has made an attempt to review the therapeutic profile of this newly approved monoclonal antibody in the treatment of CLL.