Dr. Furman on Utility of Prognostic Markers in CLL

Richard R. Furman, MD, Morton Coleman, M.D. Distinguished Associate Professor of Medicine, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the use of prognostic markers in the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The goal is to make it so that prognostic markers are no longer prognostic, which is actually a good thing for the field, Furman explains. This is because with the current novel therapies available, there are responses amongst all patients. The question, however, is how long will these responses last?

Furman says that the hope is for researchers to identify which patients may require more aggressive treatment than a BTK inhibitor or a BCR antagonist alone. These patients may also be at an increased risk for developing Richter's transformation. Therefore, they may require a different treatment approach in order for them to have long-term and positive outcomes.