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3 treatment settings, 2 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Watch and wait; antiviral therapy first if hepatitis C is present.
This setting names no product or technology record yet; the approach above is the standard as written. Ask your team which specific treatments they mean.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Rituximab alone or with chemotherapy; splenectomy for selected patients; BTK inhibitors or lenalidomide-rituximab later.
Rituximab was the first antibody ever approved for cancer (1997). It made chemoimmunotherapy the CLL standard for a decade, and biosimilars keep it cheap and everywhere.
An East German chemotherapy rediscovered in the 2000s that became the backbone partner for rituximab in follicular, mantle cell and Waldenström lymphomas.
Zanubrutinib is the only BTK blocker to beat ibrutinib on both efficacy and safety in a head-to-head trial. It is now the most prescribed BTK inhibitor in CLL.
Lenalidomide is a thalidomide descendant that glues the proteins IKZF1 and IKZF3 to cereblon so the cell destroys them, killing plasma cells and rousing T cells. It is the backbone of myeloma treatment and maintenance, also used in mantle cell and follicular lymphoma, and generic since 2022.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Infusion-related reactions (first infusion) · Historic lymphoma data; lower with premedication | 77% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Atrial fibrillation/flutter · ALPINE vs 13.3% ibrutinib | 5.2% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
An indolent disease of the spleen, marrow and blood. A patient with no symptoms, no cytopenias and a spleen that is not troublesome is watched, sometimes for years. When treatment is needed, the order is: test and treat hepatitis C if present, because direct-acting antivirals alone produce lymphoma remission in a proportion of hepatitis C-associated cases and that is a reason to check before giving any chemotherapy. Then rituximab alone, weekly for four to eight doses, which corrects cytopenias and shrinks the spleen in the large majority and has displaced splenectomy as first treatment. Chemoimmunotherapy with bendamustine and rituximab is used for disease that does not respond or that transforms. Splenectomy is now reserved for patients who cannot have rituximab, whose disease is confined to the spleen and who need a diagnosis, or who have refractory painful splenomegaly. It requires pneumococcal, Haemophilus influenzae type b and meningococcal vaccination at least two weeks beforehand where possible, and lifelong penicillin prophylaxis afterwards. Zanubrutinib has activity in relapsed disease across marginal zone subtypes.
Rituximab was the first antibody ever approved for cancer (1997). It made chemoimmunotherapy the CLL standard for a decade, and biosimilars keep it cheap and everywhere.
An East German chemotherapy rediscovered in the 2000s that became the backbone partner for rituximab in follicular, mantle cell and Waldenström lymphomas.
Zanubrutinib is the only BTK blocker to beat ibrutinib on both efficacy and safety in a head-to-head trial. It is now the most prescribed BTK inhibitor in CLL.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Infusion-related reactions (first infusion) · Historic lymphoma data; lower with premedication | 77% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Atrial fibrillation/flutter · ALPINE vs 13.3% ibrutinib | 5.2% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.