Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), also known as B-cell CLL (B-CLL) is the most common leukemia in Europe and North America. CLL progresses slowly and is generally incurable, with the majority of patients showing relapse and having short remissions. Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in our understanding of the pathogenesis of CLL, which has led to the development of small molecule inhibitors and multiple molecular inhibitors treating CLL which target the B-cell receptor pathway and BCL2. Smaller studies of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have also shown promising results, although longer-term follow-up and larger trials are required.

Although the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2020 Annual Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2020) was held virtually, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the quality and reach of presentations remained truly spectacular.

In this roundtable discussion, John Gribben, MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci, Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK, Alessandra Tedeschi, MD, Niguarda Cancer Center, Milan, Italy, Meghan Thompson, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, and Matthew Davids, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, debate the key updates in the field of CLL presented at ASH 2020.