Emerging Combinations Shift Treatment Paradigm for Patients With CLL

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, D. B. Lane Cancer Research Distinguished Professor; section chief of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; center medical director, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine; and executive medical director, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, shares a message with community oncologists about the evolving treatment landscape for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

With so many new datasets available and a number of clinical trials and phase III data emerging in the field, it is difficult to keep up with the latest treatment advancements for patients with CLL, Wierda says. Currently, the treatment landscape is moving away from chemoimmunotherapy in favor of small molecule inhibition therapy, such as BTK or PI3K inhibition.

Investigators are also working toward combination therapy to achieve deep remissions in patients with CLL, Wierda adds. Minimal residual disease is considered an important endpoint in these clinical trials, but more information is still to come.