EHA 2018 | Death from infection: reducing the risk in patients with CLL

While the outcome for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has significantly improved over the last 30 years due to effective treatment options, the number of patients with CLL dying as a result of infection has not particularly decreased; indicating an unmet need in new patients with immune dysfunction. Here, Carsten Niemann, MD, PhD, of Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark, points to the statistic that over 25% of patients with CLL will have a severe infection, and how the use of a machine learning algorithm developed in collaboration with the Danish Technical University may help prevent infection-related deaths in patients with CLL. From the 23rd Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2018, held in Stockholm, Sweden, Dr Niemann explains how this process can help identify those patients with greater than 70% risk of infection, who can then receive either pre-emptive treatment or observation in a new clinical trial currently being designed.