Is Finite-Duration Therapy the New Frontline Standard of Care for CLL?

Alessandra Ferrajoli, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses if finite-duration treatment is ready to be the new standard of care in frontline treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

“I think we are ready, and that is because we have so many agents that have great activity and we are able to combine them,” she said.

Dr. Ferrajoli highlighted the use of monoclonal antibodies and targeted therapies in doublet and triplet combinations for CLL.

“We are able to do this because those therapies are very effective and also are very tolerable with a truly favorable toxicity profile,” she said.

However, Dr. Ferrajoli emphasized a key caveat.

“We really need to tailor those treatments for the right patients,” she said. “We need to look at the patient’s characteristics … we also have not yet decided what is the best way to decide when treatment can be stopped,” she said, noting “we cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach.”