EHA 2016: Professor Hallek on the Unmet Needs in CLL

[bkoffman]

Today in the 2016 Conference Coverage section of the CLL Society website, we’ve posted an interview with Dr. Michael Hallek about the unmet needs in CLL as well as his approach to addressing them through research. You can view my interview here. cllsociety.org/2016/10/eha-...

It is a very thoughtful discussion and focuses on the need for combination therapies.

If you have not yet participated in our Reader Poll to give us feedback about how we’re doing and what topics you would like to see covered in the future, please take 2 minutes and do so if you have time. We appreciate the input we’ve received so far and would love to receive more. Thank you. You can access it here. q32016ask.questionpro.com/

Stay strong.

We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman

cllsociety.org

bkoffman.blogspot.com

[wroxham-gb]

Good interview, worth watching.

Have completed your poll.

Sue

GB

[DanaM]

Thank You Brian for doing this interview

[splashsplash]

Really informative interview, thanks Brian. Is there any way that after the trials are completed in the next 12 months, the results can be made known to the CLL community?

[ikahan]

Excellent talk , thank you Brian

[mnmnewtons]

After viewing the above interview, I also watched the EHA 2016 interview you had with Dr. Jeff Jones regarding combination therapies in CLL. One of the listed "takeaways" was the assertion that adding Rituxan to TKI inhibitors, like Ibrutinab or Idelalisib, do not clearly improve outcomes. Since neither that, nor the video, referenced any studies to support Dr. Jones' statement, are you aware of any such studies. It is my understanding that Idelalisib with Rituxan is routinely used in combination in the clinical setting, as it is supported by clinical trials an studies. For context, I have posted on Health Unlocked. I have del17p, TP53 mutation and unmutated IgHV. i am now on Idelalisib (150mg b.i.d. and have had 4 weekly and 7 monthy infusions of Rituxan at 900mg.

Malcolm

[bkoffman CLL CURE Hero in reply to mnmnewtons]

Adding rituximab speeds up the response but it is unclear that it deepens or prolongs it. This is based on the the less than perfect science of comparing one trial to another. The story may be quite different with add rituximab to venetoclax.