Professor John Gribben from Barts and The London Trust Cancer Centre, UK, meets with Professor Robin Foa from Rome, Italy and Professor Clemens Wendtner from Cologne, Germany, at ASH 2012 to talk to ecancer.TV about new data in CLL from ASH and the exciting times for this condition.

Professor Foa emphasises the advances that have now been made to improve care in older patients with co-morbidities, and the importance of determining performance status (PS).  He comments on the current role of chlorambucil vs. bendamustine, and the promise of PTK inhibitors.  Professor Foa, however, notes that further improved outcomes are still needed in older frail patients.  He notes that new drugs may be good enough to control rather than cure the disease.

Professor Wendtner comments on the current use of bendamustine, and highlights the promise of the new anti CD20s, eg, based on results from the CLL11 study.  He comments on the new data from ASH 2012 with bendamustine vs. chlorambucil in combination therapy. Professor Wendtner outlines the final results presented at ASH 2012 of the dose-finding study with lenalidomide in CLL.

Both experts comment on the new ASH 2012 data on the BTK inhibitors in older patients, eg, ibrutinib in combination and as single agent therapy.  Also on the future use of chemo-free regimens in certain patient groups, and the value of next-generation sequencing (NGS) studies and markers in treatment decision-making.  They also comment on the direction of future clinical trials based on PS, NGS, risk stratification, patient fitness status and co-morbidities and available agents.

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