Recent advances in therapy of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

The last 5 to 10 years have been marked by considerable advances in both our understanding of the biology and treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Fludarabine-based immuno-chemotherapy is the current standard of care for first line therapy in younger fit patients and although this can be highly effective its use in older co-morbid patients is limited by toxicity, and the prognosis for patients with high risk or fludarabine-refractory disease is poor. The introduction of new antibodies has however, facilitated the use of immuno-chemotherapy in co-morbid patients. Beyond this, the recognition that CLL cells are critically dependent on B-cell receptor (BCR) signalling and interactions with the cellular micro-environment for proliferation and survival has led to the investigation of BCR inhibitors in CLL treatment. These have been shown to be highly effective although a number of questions remain about how they should be optimally used in clinical practice.