NCCN Awards Grants to Three Research Projects for CLL, SLL

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Oncology Research Program (ORP) has awarded quality improvement research grants to advance care for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). The ORP will oversee the following three research projects funded by AstraZeneca:

 

1. The CLL/SLL Care Road Map: Accessible, Flexible, and Interactive Web Enabled Resources for High Quality Treatment Decisions led by Larry Cripe, MD, of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.

2. Improving The Detection of Other Cancers in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Using Multicancer Early Detection Testing led by Alessandra Ferrajoli, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

3. Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma led by Sara Tinsley-Vance, PhD, APRN, of Moffitt Cancer Center.

 

These projects aim to improve patient quality of life, address treatment disparities, and increase access to care.

“There is clear and growing evidence that patients with CLL are a group of cancer patients at a remarkably high risk to develop solid and hematological cancers and that when OCs [other cancers] develop in patients with CLL, they have a more aggressive clinical course,” Dr. Ferrajoli told Blood Cancers Today. “Currently, there are no programs that systematically screen patients with CLL for the presence of OCs. We will be offering the multicancer early detection (MCED) Galleri test to patients with CLL.”

MCED testing is a novel, noninvasive screening tool with the ability to detect up to 50 different types of cancers through blood samples, Dr. Ferrajoli explained.

“If the test reveals a possible cancer, additional testing will be performed to determine its presence or not and to obtain a biopsy,” she added. “The goals of this proposal are to identify OCs in patients with CLL in a timely fashion, improve their curability rates, and ultimately reduce the number of deaths due to OCs in patients with CLL.”

The three proposals were peer reviewed by a scientific review committee of oncologists and experts in the field of hematologic malignancies across 33 NCCN Member Institutions.

“We congratulate these researchers and look forward to seeing their contributions make a tangible difference in future care for CLL/SLL patients,” said Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, Chief Executive Officer of NCCN, in a press release.

Reference

NCCN awards grants to improve care for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma. NCCN News. December 4, 2024. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.nccn.org/home/news/newsdetails?NewsId=4864