October 24, 2016

Friends,

Today in the Conference Coverage section of the CLL Society website, we’ve posted an interview with Dr. Andrew Roberts from a discussion we had about the new data on Venetoclax used in combination with Rituximab for relapsed refractory CLL. You can view my interview here.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Reader Poll to give us feedback about how we’re doing and what topics you would like to see covered in the future. We will use your feedback to help select topics for the website and The CLL Tribune in the future.

Thanks to those of you who provided additions to our CLL Doctors list. They have been added to the website and the downloadable PDF. You can access it here.

Patient & Caregiver Support Meetings

NEW! Tuesday, November 1^st at 6:30 PM at the Moffitt McKinley Outpatient Center in Tampa, FL – the first meeting of a new CLL Patient & Caregiver Support and Education Group. Patients and family caregivers are welcome. You can find more information here!

Tuesday, November 1^st at 7:00 PM in Tucker, GA: The Tucker Family Support Group sponsored by LLS will be meeting. More information here.

Wednesday, November 2^nd from 4:00 – 5:00 PM in La Jolla, CA: The UCSD CLL Education and Support Group will be meeting. More information here.

Thursday, November 3^rd at 7:00 PM in New City, NY: The CLL Information & Support Group of Rockland County NY, sponsored by LLS will be meeting. More information here.

If you’re aware of other CLL Patient Support Group meetings, let us know and we’ll post them. Thanks!

Patient Education Meetings

From time to time, we will make you aware of in-person Patient Education meetings coming up for those of us affected by CLL and lymphoma, specifically:

• October 28-30^th in Chicago: The North American Educational Forum on Lymphoma sponsored by the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Find out more information here. Everyone’s favorite poster to the online forums, Wayne Wells will be there representing the CLL Society.
• Wednesday, November 16th at 6 PM at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport – Mall of America in Bloomington, MN: The Lymphoma Research Foundation will be hosting Updates on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia / Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma as part of their Ask the Doctor series. Timothy Call, from the Mayo Clinic is the featured speaker. You can find out more information and register here. Dinner will be served and there is no charge to attend.
• Friday, November 18th from 7:30 AM to 2:15 PM at the Hilton Hotel City Avenue in Philadelphia, PA: The Abramson Cancer Center in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be hosting 9th Focus on Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma and Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplantation Conference. Anthony Mato is the featured speaker for the CLL Workshop. You can find out more information and register here.

Heads Up! The CLL Society has become aware of a series of unbranded (no specific drug discussion) patient education meetings coming up in October and November. CLL patients will share their personal stories, and local CLL experts will be providing a talk on the basics of CLL. A complimentary meal will be provided and parking is free. You are welcome to bring a guest.

One member of the CLL Society will be at each meeting to show a brief video and give a talk about the impact support and education groups have had on their CLL journey. We will provide practical tips and support for setting up a local CLL group and will stay afterwards to meet with attendees who may be interested in participating in a support group in those areas. We look forward to meeting you there. The next 5 confirmed meetings are:

• Tuesday, October 25^th in Golden, CO. More details in the flyer. Access it here.
• Saturday, October 29^th in San Francisco, CA. More details in the flyer. I’ll be there too. Please drop by and say hello. Access it here.
• Thursday, November 10^th in Metairie, LA. More details in the flyer. Access it here.
• Thursday, November 15^th in Independence, OH. More details in the flyer. Access it here.
• Wednesday, November 16^th in Austin, TX. More details in the flyer. Access it here.

In the meantime….

Stay strong.

We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman, MD