Dr. Bill Wierda was interviewed by Medscape about possible coming shift in the CLL guidelines developed by the NCCN. The NCCN or National Comprehensive Cancer Network is a not-for-profit alliance of 26 leading international cancer institutes that puts together evidence-based guidelines to better inform treatment decisions.
Here is a link to a PDF the NCCN’s most current guidelines on NHL (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas) that include CLL, published in 2015.
It is a bit cumbersome to follow.
We suggest that you download the entire PDF and then scroll through the CLL section found on pages 12-30 of the total of 463 pages.
It still won’t be super easy to follow, but it is full of well-constructed, evidence-based algorithms, checklists and vital information.
These guidelines are continuously being updated and revisions already are being considered based on the growing evidence gained from clinical trials with new antibodies and targeted therapies.
Quoting Dr. Wierda from the interview: “Right now, the standard of care is chemotherapy in the frontline setting, and then the small molecule inhibitors as salvage therapies, but I think that’s going to change relatively soon,”
Here is a link to the article: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/841541. You may need to sign in or create a Medscape account to view it.
Brian Koffman 3/18/15