Jennifer Woyach, MD: Nemtabrutinib is a type of treatment called a BTK, or Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor. BTK is a really important signaling protein inside CLL and NHL cells. It's actually been a target for these cancers for a number of years, starting from work that was originally done here at the James Cancer Hospital where we studied drugs like ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, and zanubrutinib, which are all now available for use in these diseases. 

Unfortunately, some patients will develop resistance to these commonly used BTK inhibitors, and that usually happens in CLL because the cancer cells will develop a mutation in BTK itself that prevents the drugs from binding. 

Nemtabrutinib was designed to still bind the BTK protein but do so at a different site. So even if that mutation is present, the drug can still bind and still kill the cancer cells.

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For more information, visit:
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