New guidelines for blood cancer therapy

The National Comprehensive Care Network, an alliance of 21 of the world's leading cancer centers, released new guidelines for the  treatment of blood cancers at the NCCN annual conference. Included in  the updated guidelines is a recommendation for Campath (alemtuzumab),  German drug major Bayer's treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, as  a first-line therapy for high-risk CLL patients 70 years old and above.

These are the latest in a series of clinical recommendations recognizing  the importance of personalized medicine in CLL. Over the past few years,  the NCCN treatment guidelines have shifted due to advances in clinical  knowledge about diagnostic markers and targeted therapies, allowing  physicians to personalize treatment for each patient and improve  outcomes. These guidelines support the notion that individualized  therapy is the future of CLL treatment and other blood cancers.