Dr. Steven Coutre on the Eventual Role of Chemotherapy in CLL

Steven Coutre, MD, professor of medicine (Hematology), Stanford University Medical Center, discusses the eventual role chemotherapy will have in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

With agents ibrutinib and idelalisib proving to be efficacious in treatment of CLL, Coutre explains more patients are steering away from chemotherapy as a treatment option. There is also more tolerability with these agents, he says.

Researchers are also conducting randomized trials in the frontline setting comparing ibrutinib and idelalisib to chemotherapy. If these results are positive in respect to the novel agents, the trend towards them will further accelerate, Coutre predicts.

Coutre says a remarkable accomplishment would be for the average patient, who is at least 70 years of age and in need of initial therapy, to be able to receive an oral, well-tolerated agent such as ibrutinib or idelalisib. Though this agent may not eliminate their disease, it could have the potential to manage it for the rest of their life.