March 7, 2017

Friends,

This week, we are sharing some basic science that reminds us that nothing about CLL is simple and that drugs nearly always have unintended and often unexpected consequences. We explain the importance of a recent article from Nature: P13Kδ (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase δ) blockade increases genomic instability in B cells where we learn how the tremendous therapeutic benefit of a drug may also be linked to potential concerns. You can read my summary here and link to the abstract from Nature.

CLL Patient Support Group Meetings This Week

Tuesday, March 7^th at 7 PM in Tucker, GA – the Tucker Family Support Group, sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be meeting. More information here.

Tuesday, March 14^th at 7 PM in Orange, CA – the Orange County CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society will be meeting. More information here.

New CLL Patient Support Group Meetings

Saturday, April 15^th at 3 PM in Vienna, VA – the Washington DC-Area CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society will be meeting for the first time. More information here.

Saturday, April 22^nd at 1 PM in the Boston area – the Boston-area CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society will be meeting for the first time. More information here.

Sunday, April 23^rd at 4 PM in San Francisco – the San Francisco CLL Support Group sponsored by the CLL Society will be meeting for the first time. More information here.

ALSO – We are actively forming CLL-specific support group in a number of cities around the country. To see if your city is one of them, go to our home page and click on the interest survey for your city. JUST ADDED – Atlanta, GA; Salt Lake City, UT; Huntsville, AL. Not listed, but interested in starting one? Email us at support@cllsociety.org Thanks!

Upcoming Patient Education Meetings

• Saturday, March 18^th from 7:30 AM to 3:15 PM in Washington DC: The Lymphoma Research Foundation will be hosting Lymphoma Workshop: Understanding Lymphoma Basics and Current Treatment Options which will include disease-specific breakout sessions. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Find out more information here.
• Saturday, April 1^st from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM in Atlanta, GA: The Lymphoma Research Foundation will be hosting Lymphoma Workshop: Understanding Lymphoma Basics and Current Treatment Options which will include disease-specific breakout sessions. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Find out more information here.
• Thursday, April 6^th from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM in Boston: The Lymphoma Research Foundation will be hosting Ask the Doctor: Updates on CLL/SLL. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Dinner will be provided for registered attendees. Find out more information here.
• Thursday, April 20^th from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM in Cherry Hill, NJ: Anthony Mato, MD, MSCE from the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia will be chairing the patient educational forum, CLL in 2017: State of the Art Management from a Patient’s Perspective with his team. Brian Koffman, MD from the CLL Society will also be speaking. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Attendance is limited and registration will be closed when attendance limits are reached. Dinner will be provided for registered attendees. Find out more information here.

In the meantime….

Stay strong.

We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman, MD