September 28, 2015

Friends,

This week on the CLL Society website, we share an interview with my trial doctor, Dr. John Byrd out of Ohio State University, discussing how CLL drugs get to market and what the implications are for patients in terms of clinical trial design, especially in phase 1 trials.

We met at the CRC (CLL Research Consortium) Scientific Meeting in San Diego in April 2015.

There are several take-aways, however one that is critical is that we be well-informed, not just about the drugs we might be taking, but also of the details of the clinical trial design itself.

Please take a look here to see the interview and important related links.

Our inaugural newsletter will be emailed out midweek and we are really excited about it: Dr. Byrd is has written a long Q+A on ibrutinib; Dr. Jennifer Brown gives practical advice on idelalisib; I cover the basics of just what is CLL/SLL and more; plus several patients have written diverse and helpful articles. If you are receiving this email through a CLL Society Alert, you are all set. If you are receiving this through another method and haven’t already, please sign up here.

Please forward this email to a fellow patient or caregiver who might benefit form knowing more about CLL.

Another reason to make sure all the folks that might be helped sign on is that we will posting a backlog of great lectures and interviews and articles on CLL over the next few months leading up to ASH and this alert is your best friend in knowing what new material we have posted.

Save the date: We are planning a post-ASH patient education forum and CLL Society LA support group launch in conjunction with City of Hope on Dec. 12, 2015. More details to follow.

Stay strong.

We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman

Volunteer Medical Director of the CLL Society