Dr. Pagel on Time-Limited Therapy in CLL

John M. Pagel, MD, PhD, chief of the Hematologic Malignancies Program, and director, Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Program, at Swedish Cancer Institute, discusses time-limited therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Time-limited therapy is emerging in treatment for patients with hematologic malignancies, specifically CLL, explains Pagel. When using combinations of drugs, impressive rates of undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD) can be achieved in 1 to 2 years, allowing patients to stop therapy, says Pagel.

Not all patients will achieve an MRD state and those patients likely will not be enthusiastic about stopping therapy, according to Pagel. Research is exploring how to treat patients more conservatively versus more aggressive therapy and how to determine which method is best for each patient, Pagel concludes.