Dr. Rhodes on Evaluating the Unmet Needs of Elderly Patients in CLL

Joanna M. Rhodes, MD, director, the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Research and Treatment Center, Northwell Health Cancer Institute, discusses evaluating the unmet needs of elderly patients inCLL.

Despite advancements with targeted therapy, the adverse event (AE) profiles of such agents are still not widely understood, Rhodes says. Moreover, elderly patients and those with comorbidities are more likely to discontinue treatments with targeted agents due to these AEs, Rhodes explains.

Although dose reductions or adjustments can help manage AEs, there is a lack of prospective data on the impact of these strategies on patient outcomes, Rhodes continues. Additionally, ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta) discontinuation data were gathered from patient cohorts, Rhodes notes. However, these data were not an accurate representative of the elderly patient population and may not lead to an accurate prediction of outcomes, Rhodes concludes.