title: Management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
abstract: In the last decade, the management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia has undergone profound changes that have been driven by an improved understanding of the biology of the disease and the approval of several new drugs. Moreover, many novel drugs are currently under evaluation for rapid approval or have been approved by regulatory agencies, further broadening the available therapeutic armamentarium for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The use of novel biological and genetic parameters combined with a careful clinical evaluation allows us to dissect some of the heterogeneity of the disease and to distinguish patients with a very mild onset and course, who often will not need any treatment, from those with an intermediate prognosis and a third group with a very aggressive course (high-risk leukemia). On this background, it becomes increasingly challenging to select the right treatment strategy. In this paper, we describe our own approach to the management of different patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Unit of Lymphoid Malignancies and Laboratory of B Cell Neoplasia, Department of Onco-Hematology and Division of Molecular Oncology, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Fondazione Centro San Raffaele, IRCCS Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele, Milano, Italy ghia.paolo@hsr.it.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghia
authors.affiliation: Department I Internal Medicine, Center for Integrated Oncology Köln-Bonn, Center of Excellence on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hallek
mesh_terms: D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis