# Fixed-duration vs continuous therapy

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/fixed-duration/  
OnCo record `fixed-duration` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Whether a drug is taken for a set period (say 12 months) and then stopped even though it is still working, or continued indefinitely until it fails. Fixed-duration gives patients years off treatment; continuous therapy avoids the risk of the cancer regrowing.

## Summary

The debate is sharpest in CLL, where venetoclax-based regimens for 12-15 months (CLL14, GLOW) compete with indefinite BTK inhibitors, and MRD status at the end of therapy predicts who stays in remission. In CML, treatment-free remission after deep response is established; in myeloma, lenalidomide maintenance is continuous but MRD-guided stopping trials are under way; in metastatic melanoma and lung cancer, immunotherapy is often stopped at two years with durable benefit (KEYNOTE-006, CheckMate 153). Fixed-duration reduces cumulative toxicity and cost and permits retreatment; continuous therapy is simpler to prove in trials because progression-free survival keeps counting.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: fixed-duration; fixed duration; time-limited; time-limited therapy; finite therapy; continuous therapy; continuous treatment; indefinite treatment; treatment-free; treatment-free interval; treatment-free survival; off-treatment; treatment discontinuation; stopping rules; stop trial; treatment cessation; elective discontinuation; stopping rule

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_lymphocytic_leukemia#Treatment
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_lymphocytic_leukemia#Treatment

## Connected records

- terms: [Maintenance therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/maintenance-therapy/), [Molecular response (MMR, MR4, treatment-free remission)](https://onco.cc/terms/molecular-response/), [Rechallenge and retreatment](https://onco.cc/terms/rechallenge/), [Undetectable MRD (uMRD / MRD-negative)](https://onco.cc/terms/umrd/)
- cancers: [Advanced melanoma (unresectable stage III and stage IV)](https://onco.cc/cancers/advanced-melanoma/), [Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/cll/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Multiple myeloma](https://onco.cc/cancers/multiple-myeloma/)
- fronts: [Targeted Therapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/targeted-therapy/)
- drugs: [Ibrutinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/ibrutinib/), [Venetoclax](https://onco.cc/drugs/venetoclax/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/fixed-duration.json