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Treatments for Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

From the Department of Leukemia, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Author's disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

Address reprint requests to William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar in Clinical Research, Department of Leukemia, Unit 428, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, PO Box 301402, Houston, TX 77230-1402; e-mail: wwierda{at}mdanderson.org

Overview: Clinical and laboratory discoveries are driving rapid change in treatments for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Randomized trials have demonstrated superior activity for fludarabine combined with cyclophosphamide compared with single-agent fludarabine or chlorambucil as initial treatment. Chemoimmunotherapy holds promise for further improvement in complete response rate and remission duration and is being evaluated in randomized trials. New agents and combinations are being identified and tested. Eliminating minimal residual disease is a therapeutic endpoint that may prolong survival and also is under investigation in prospective clinical trials. Work continues toward prolonging survival and curing patients with this disease.