Doctors discover alternative treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a slow-growing cancer that attacks certain proteins on white blood cells.

Now doctors have discovered an alternative to traditional chemotherapy for battling this disease.

Barry Taylor, a retired magician, has chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a blood cancer producing too many abnormal white blood cells. Instead of staying on traditional chemo, his doctors are using new therapies to treat his cancer.

“We went from fairly fixed duration therapies, to now, take it until your disease gets worse again, so, we call that treat to progression – progression to cancer,” said Dr. Ralph Boccia, medical director at Georgetown University. “Now, we have kinda come full circle, where we’re realizing we could put some of these combinations together and can give them limited therapy, therapy that might last only a year or two.”

These drugs are critical for outsmarting cancer. There can be side effects from any drugs so Dr. Boccia recommends discussing treatment options with your hematologist.

“He’s on a targeted drug called Acalabrutinib, a monoclonal antibody called Obinutuzumab, and another targeted drug called Venclexta,” Boccia said.

Things are better now for Taylor.

“I was in the ICU, and all, and things were getting bad, but when I got on this Venclexta, boy, it was a lifesaver,” he said.

He is now in remission, but is still on drug therapies to keep cancer at bay.