Dr. Ghia on the Shift From Chemotherapy to Novel Agents in CLL

Paolo Ghia, MD, PhD, a professor of Medical Oncology and the director of the Strategic Research Program on CLL and the B Cell Neoplasia Unit at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, discusses how use the of chemotherapy is decreasing in favor of novel agents in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Chemotherapy regimens and chemoimmunotherapy treatment approaches are fading out of the treatment algorithm of CLL, says Ghia. This shift will be seen in the updated ASCO guidelines, where chemoimmunotherapy only remains an option for patients who do not have access to the novel therapies that are currently available in some countries and regions.

Not everyone has the same accessibility, but for the patients who do, particularly in the first-line setting, most of them experience a benefit from novel therapies. Even in the relapsed/refractory setting, the percentage of patients who benefit from chemoimmunotherapy is reducing with time, concludes Ghia.