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Changing Treatment Landscape in CLL

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

The treatment landscape for individuals with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has evolved dramatically over the past few years, Richard Furman, M.D. tells OncLive in this video. Just five years ago, treatments for patients with CLL generally caused severe adverse events, worsening of disease, or secondary malignancies, such as the development of myelodysplastic syndromes, acute myeloid leukemia, or transformation to large cell lymphoma. However, newer agents, such as anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies, ibrutinib, and idelalisib are effective, well tolerated, and patients have a lower likelihood of developing resistance. With these novel agents, the disease can be controlled for long periods of time, says Furman.