New Agents in the Treatment of CLL

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Hematology 2008

New Agents in the Treatment of CLL

O'Brien1

Correspondence: O'Brien, MD, Department of Leukemia, University of Texas

M.D. Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Box 428, Houston, TX 77030;

Phone: 713-792-7543; Fax: 713-794-4297; e-mail: sobrien@... .

Abstract

Chemoimmunotherapy has resulted in high complete remission rates and long

remission duration in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) but

relapses occur and curative strategies still need to be developed. A wealth of

new agents with a wide variety of mechanisms of action against CLL are currently

in clinical trials. Twelve of these agents, which are in various stages of

development varying from Phase I to Phase III trials, will be discussed. These

include alkylating agents, monoclonal antibodies, immune modulators,

cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors, BCL-2 family member inhibitors,

protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors, SRC inhibitors, HSP-90 inhibitors and small

modular immune pharmaceutics (SMIP).