November 7, 2017

Friends,

We had a great educational forum at the University of California, Irvine this past Saturday. For those of you who attended, it was great to see you. We are very thankful to Dr. Susan O’Brien and Dr. Richard Van Etten for their time and support, as well as all the many volunteers from the Orange County CLL support group.

If you haven’t had time to participate in our 2017 CLL Patient Survey, please consider doing it today. You can participate online or request a paper survey. Find out more here. If you’ve already participated, THANK YOU! We are hoping to capture as many voices of CLL as possible, so we can best understand the experience of patients.

You may have read in the news or on the online forums about the recent approval, both in the US and in Canada, of a new shingles vaccine, Shingrix, a killed herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine for adults over 50 years old. You can read more about shingles, the data that led to the specific indication, potential reimbursement issues and my commentary here.

Our next CLL Patient Education Forums will be taking place this Saturday 11/11 in Cleveland, OH. We look forward to seeing you there. After ASH 2017 we’ll be in Seattle, WA and Bethesda, MD (plus more after the holidays). You’ll hear the latest data about CLL and be able to ask questions of CLL Experts. See below for the full schedule, more information and to register.

CLL Patient Support Group Meetings Coming Up

Thursday, November 9^th at 7:00 PM in Syosset, NY – The Long Island CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting for the FIRST TIME. More information here.

Thursday, November 9^th at 7:00 PM in Golden Valley, MN – The Twin Cities CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting for the FIRST TIME. More information here.

Saturday, November 11^th at 2:00 PM in Orlando, FL – The Orlando CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Saturday, November 11^th at 2:00 PM in Media, PA – The Philadelphia CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting for the FIRST TIME. More information here.

Sunday, November 12^th at 3:00 PM in Atlanta, GA – The Atlanta Metro CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Sunday, December 10^th at 3:00 PM in New York City – The New York City 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 groups in a number of cities across the country. There has been recent interest in forming support groups in the following cities: Tucson, AZ, Central Massachusetts, New York City, Raleigh, NC, Cincinnati, OH, Dallas, TX, Nashville, TN, Hartford, CT, Greensboro NC, Palm Springs, and Oahu, HI. Complete the interest survey and let’s see if we can get one going! See what other cities are looking to form support groups by clicking here. Not listed, but interested in starting one? Email us at support@cllsociety.org Thanks!

CLL Patient Education Meetings

CLL Society Sponsored Meetings

SAVE THE DATE: The CLL Society will be hosting a series of CLL Patient Educational Forums. Mark your calendars! There is no charge to attend, but registration is required!

November 11^th – Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH with Dr. Brian Hill and Dr. Matt Kalaycio. More information here. Register here.

December 16^th – Swedish Cancer Center in Seattle, WA with Dr. John Pagel, Dr Krish Patel and Dr. Mazyar Shadman. More information here. Register here

December 16^th – National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD with Dr. Adrian Wiestner and Dr. Inhye Ahn. More information here. Register here.

January 6^th – Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA with Dr. Matthew Davids. More information here. Register here.

January 6^th – Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL with Dr. Javier Pinella.

January 13^th – City of Hope in Duarte, CA with Drs. Steven Rosen and Tanya Siddiqi.

January 27^th – Duke Cancer Institute in Raleigh, NC with Dr. Danielle Brander.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Sponsored Meetings

Wednesday, November 15th from 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM in Waltham, MA – LLS invites you to attend Living Well with CLL: Diagnosis, Treatments and Support being held at the Conference Center at Waltham Woods in Waltham, MA. Dr. Matthew Davids from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will be presenting. This event is free but registration is required. Dinner will be provided to registered attendees. Find out more information and register here.

Tuesday, December 5th from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM in Phoenix, AZ – LLS invites you to attend Living Well with CLL: Diagnosis, Treatments and Support being held at the Camby Hotel in Phoenix, AZ. Dr. Jose Leis from the Mayo Clinic will be presenting. This event is free but registration is required. Dinner will be provided to registered attendees. Find out more information and register here.

Lymphoma Research Foundation Sponsored Meetings

LRF will be hosting a Lymphoma Workshop in Seattle, WA on Saturday, November 11^th from 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM at the Sheraton Seattle. A breakout session on CLL will be held featuring John Pagel, MD, PhD, from the Swedish Cancer Institute and a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the CLL Society. The meeting is free, but registration is required. Click here for more information and to register.

LRF will be hosting Ask the Doctor: Updates on Lymphoma and Treatment Options meetings in Houston on November 16^th at 6 PM (NOTE NEW DATE). The meeting is free, but registration is required. Dinner will be provided to all registered attendees.

In the meantime….

Stay strong.

We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman, MD