{"entity":{"id":"fixed-duration","kind":"term","name":"Fixed-duration vs continuous therapy","aka":["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"],"tldr":"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.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_lymphocytic_leukemia#Treatment","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_lymphocytic_leukemia#Treatment"}],"tags":[],"related":["umrd","molecular-response","maintenance-therapy","rechallenge"],"cancers":["cll","multiple-myeloma","melanoma"],"sections":["targeted-therapy"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["venetoclax","ibrutinib"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Treatment jargon"},"route":"/terms/fixed-duration/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"maintenance-therapy","kind":"term","name":"Maintenance therapy","route":"/terms/maintenance-therapy/"},{"id":"molecular-response","kind":"term","name":"Molecular response (MMR, MR4, treatment-free remission)","route":"/terms/molecular-response/"},{"id":"rechallenge","kind":"term","name":"Rechallenge and retreatment","route":"/terms/rechallenge/"},{"id":"umrd","kind":"term","name":"Undetectable MRD (uMRD / MRD-negative)","route":"/terms/umrd/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"advanced-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Advanced melanoma (unresectable stage III and stage IV)","route":"/cancers/advanced-melanoma/"},{"id":"cll","kind":"cancer","name":"Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia","route":"/cancers/cll/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"multiple-myeloma","kind":"cancer","name":"Multiple myeloma","route":"/cancers/multiple-myeloma/"}],"section":[{"id":"targeted-therapy","kind":"section","name":"Targeted Therapy","route":"/fronts/targeted-therapy/"}],"drug":[{"id":"ibrutinib","kind":"drug","name":"Ibrutinib","route":"/drugs/ibrutinib/"},{"id":"venetoclax","kind":"drug","name":"Venetoclax","route":"/drugs/venetoclax/"}]}}