March 13, 2018

Friends,

Today while you’re reading my latest post, I’ll be having my CT and PET scans to get the full picture of my CLL, then tomorrow Patty and I will talk to the clinical trial team about the results.

In the meantime, I’ve posted an interview from ASH 2017 with Dr. Con Tam from Peter McCallum in Melbourne Australia about an experimental BTK blocker, BGB-3111, now with the name zanubrutinib, that helps control CLL by shutting down the B-cell receptor. What BGB-3111 promises is a more selective inhibition of BTK, which may result in fewer adverse events and easier and better combinations with other medications. You can access my summary and the interview here.

Watch for new blog posts about my CAR-T experience. If you haven’t checked out yet, you can access it here. Feel free to leave me comments too!

Also we have updated our CAR-T comic book with a page on lympho-depletion and another on neurotoxicity. You’ll find it here!

CLL Patient Support Group Meetings Coming Up

Tuesday, March 13^th at 7:00 PM in Orange, CA – The Orange County CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Thursday, March 15^th at 6:00 PM in Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Thursday, March 15^th at 7:00 PM in Denver, CO – The Denver CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Thursday, March 15^th at 7:00 PM in Syosset, NY – The Long Island CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Saturday, March 17^th at 10:00 AM in Belmont, NC – The Charlotte CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Saturday, March 17^th at 10:30 AM in Tampa, FL – The Central Florida CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Saturday, March 17^th at 3:00 PM in Vienna, VA – The Washington DC-area CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Sunday, March 18^th at 4:00 PM in San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco-area CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

Monday, March 19^th at 7:00 PM in Duarte, CA – The City of Hope CLL Support Group, sponsored by the CLL Society, will be meeting. More information here.

CLL Patient Education Meetings

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Sponsored Meetings

Thursday, March 15th from 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM in New Orleans, LA

LLS invites you to attend Living Well with CLL: Diagnosis, Treatments and Support being held at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, LA. Nakhle Saba, MD from Tulane Medical Center 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.

Saturday, April 7th from 8:00 AM – 3:45 PM in Aurora, CO

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) invites you to attend the Rocky Mountain Blood Cancer Conference being held at the Hyatt Regency Aurora-Denver Conference Center. John Burke, MD from the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers will be presenting the CLL Breakout session. This event is free but registration is required. Find out more information here. Register here.

Thursday, May 31^st from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM in Bloomington, MN

LLS invites you to attend Living Well with CLL: Diagnosis, Treatments and Support being held at the Marriott Minneapolis Airport in Bloomington, MN. Veronika Bachanova, MD, PhD and William Robiner, PhD, ABPP, LP from University of Minnesota will be presenting. This event is free but registration is required. Dinner will be provided to registered attendees. Find out more information here. Register here.

SAVE THE DATES – FUTURE CLL PROGRAMS SPONSORED BY LLS PLANNED!

North Carolina either May 5th or May 19^th
Cleveland, Ohio on June 7th

Lymphoma Research Foundation Sponsored Meetings

Thursday, March 15th from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM in Palo Alto, CA

The Lymphoma Research Foundation invites you to attend a FREE dinner meeting Ask the Doctor: Updates on Lymphoma and Treatment Options at Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel featuring Ash A. Alizadeh, MD, PhD from Stanford University. Find out more information and register here.

Saturday, March 17th from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM in Chicago, IL

The Lymphoma Research Foundation invites you to attend a FREE Lymphoma Workshop: Understanding Lymphoma Basics and Current Treatment Options at The Westin Chicago River North featuring a CLL breakout session with Parameswaran Venugopal, MD from Rush University Medical Center. Find out more information and register here.

CLL Patient Advocacy Group and Lymphoma Canada Sponsored Meeting

April 19-21, 2018 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

The CLL Patient Advocay Group, Lymphoma Canada and the Juravinski Cancer Center invites you to attend a free 2 day meeting CLL Live 2018 Many Reasons for Hope at the Hilton Hotel and Suites in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Find out more information here. Register here.

Blood & Marrow Transplant Information Network Sponsored Meeting

April 28-29, 2018 in Denver, CO

The BMT InfoNet invites you to attend the 9th National Celebrating a Second Chance at Life Survivorship Symposium 2018 for bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplant survivors and caregivers. This unique two-day symposium educates and empowers survivors about how to cope with long term side effects of transplant. It’s being held at the Hyatt Regency Aurora – Denver Conference Center in Aurora, CO. Find out more information here. Register at https://www.bmtinfonet.org/symposium2018

In the meantime….

Stay strong.

We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman, MD