That is the first question that pops into our brains, when we are first diagnosed with cancer.  CLL patients are no different in that respect.  So, what can early stage CLL  patients expect, by way of both quality and quantity of life?

The CLL guidelines formulated by the International Expert Working Group are the state-of-the-art guidance on how to diagnose, evaluate and treat our patients. Physicians who are not familiar with these guidelines are not likely to be your best bet.  This is stuff you and your oncologist should know in your sleep!

Prognostic indicators have vastly increased our understanding of CLL and our ability to distinguish between high risk patients and lucky “smoldering” variety. Is this must have information? Should patients ‘encourage’ their physicians to do prognostic testing?  This is an important issue and one that impacts all patients.

Yesterday (April 9, 2011) we held our third workshop, “All about prognostic indicators“.  Here is my slide presentation and comments.  We had a full house and I cannot do justice to the very lively discussion during and after. If you were among the participants, please chime in, add your comments. This is a community affair, things work better when you guys  pitch-in as well.  Thanks.

Staging is one of the most important benchmarks when it comes to CLL treatment decisions. A new “Blood” article describes Rai and Binet staging details that you really should understand, especially if you are late stage and about to start therapy.

Most of us are familiar with the moral of the “Goldilocks” story. Is there some way of telling when you have had enough chemo? Or should you have all cycles in the protocol, no questions asked?

One of my peeves with modern medicine is the over-dependence of high tech toys at the expense of old fashioned physical examinations based on experience and expertise. A little commonsense and risk evaluation goes a long way.

Rai and Binet systems have been the bedrock of staging risk status in CLL.  This important ASH2009 paper explains where both of these staging systems fail in predicting specific high risk groups.

When Watch & Wait ends, do you know what to do?  Does your local oncologist know what to do? We will review a truly excellent “Best Practices” article by  Dr. John Gribben – a world-class expert who shares his expertise with us: when, why and what to use as front line therapy in treating CLL patients.

Until recently the expert consensus was that there is no connection between CLL and exposure to radiation. Now that answer is a bit more murky. In the absence of a slam-dunk free pass for radiation, should you worry about getting CT scans?