Last month, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) designated the transformation of treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as the cancer Advance of Year.1 The recognition came after the US Food and Drug Administration approved 4 drugs during 2014 for the treatment of CLL: obinutuzumab and ofatumumab, 2 immunotherapeutic drugs for previously untreated CLL; and ibrutinib and idelalisib, molecularly targeted therapies for treatment-resistant or relapsed CLL. The approvals significantly expand the choice of therapies for patients with the disease, which is the most common form of leukemia in adults, and in doing so, they also stand to improve patient survival and quality of life.
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