Dr. Furman on Frontline Treatment Selection in CLL

Richard R. Furman, MD, professor of medicine, Morton Coleman, MD Distinguished Professor of Medicine, director, CLL Research Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, and attending physician, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the use of BTK inhibitors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

BTK inhibitors should be used in the frontline setting unless otherwise indicated, says Furman. For example, patients with anticoagulation or cardiac risk factors may not be eligible to receive a BTK inhibitor due to increased risk of toxicity.

Alternatively, these patients could receive a BCL-2 inhibitor with the goal of achieving durable response and rapid disease depletion, concludes Furman.