Side effects
Toxicities can limit dose intensity, continuity, and quality of life, especially in older adults.
- Hematologic: cytopenias, infection risk
- Systemic: fatigue, GI discomfort
- Comorbidity load & polypharmacy complicate care
Living with CLL
Many patients experience treatment side effects, disease relapse, and therapy resistance over time.
Relapse
Deep responses may return; residual cells can persist despite therapy.
- Retreatment sequences are common
- Intervals between lines of therapy may shorten
- Monitoring burden (labs, imaging, visits)
Treatment resistance
Adaptive signaling and mutations can blunt efficacy, demanding new combinations.
- Escape via survival/kinase pathways
- Heterogeneous subclones evolve over time
- Limited durability with single targets
