Salvage therapy for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Abstract

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a common hematologic malignancy with a highly variable clinical course. While the median age at diagnosis is 72 years of age and fewer than 10% of patients are diagnosed before the age of 60 years, the majority of patients who require therapy will ultimately relapse. Advances in upfront therapy and supportive care have dramatically improved initial responses compared with traditional akylator-based chemotherapy. However, comparable results are not generally observed in the salvage setting. Careful planning that takes into account the duration of the initial response, patient age and/or comorbidities, and cytogenetic and molecular profiles are critical for the successful management of patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Keywords::

• allogeneic transplantation
• chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• experimental therapeutics
• salvage therapy

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Michael R Grever has received honoraria from Hospira Inc. and Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals and has also been involved in consultant work with Arno Therapeutics Inc. Michael R Grever is also listed as an inventor on a patient for flavopiridol applied for by Ohio State University. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.