Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

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New Patient Appointments

The Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, part of the Hematologic Oncology (Blood Cancers) Treatment Center at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, promotes a comprehensive approach to the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Our program is one of only a few dedicated CLL centers in the country. Our team of specialists has unique expertise in caring for patients with this kind of cancer, including extensive prognostic testing, tissue banking, and access to cellular therapies including stem cell/bone marrow transplant and CAR T-cell therapy, if necessary.

We are also a centralized hub for CLL research. Our team of laboratory and clinical-based investigators and physicians offers access to clinical trials of new, promising therapies. Our goal is to have a clinical trial option for patients at every stage of the disease. We offer clinical trials for newly-diagnosed CLL, relapsed/refractory CLL, as well as Richter's syndrome, a condition where CLL turns into an aggressive form of lymphoma.

Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc, on Advances in CLL Treatment

Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc, of Dana-Farber’s Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, shares updates on advances in treating newly-diagnosed and relapsed CLL. New approaches include ibrutinib + FCR for younger, newly-diagnosed patients and a combination of rituximab and venetoclax for relapsed patients.

Patients may access a comprehensive range of services specialized for CLL treatment, including:

Evaluation
Second opinions
Diagnosis (pathologic)
A personalized treatment plan offering the latest therapies for CLL (targeted therapies, including kinase inhibitors, BCL-2 inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and newer, novel targets)
Access to clinical trials offering novel therapies
Cellular therapies, including CAR T-cell therapy and stem cell/bone marrow transplant
Support services
Access to integrative and complementary therapies through the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrated Therapies and Healthy Living
Follow-up care, including collaboration with your local (referring) physician

From the time of diagnosis, Dana-Farber offers a personalized CLL risk-assessment, which provides detailed, patient-specific information about an individual's disease and prognosis. Our CLL experts use this information to plan and implement treatment strategies. We offer patients many CLL clinical trials, which give patients the opportunity to receive novel therapies. Our ultimate research goal is to improve current therapies to benefit all patients.

Selecting Frontline Therapy for CLL

Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD, highlights available frontline therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and factors that impact her preference for treatment.