Management of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in Less-Resourced Countries

Abstract

Despite the practice-changing advances achieved in the prognostic stratification and treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a large fraction of the world population resides in countries where access to many of these advances remains unavailable or subject to severe constraints. Although some of these countries display incidence rates of CLL that are lower than those of developed Western countries, a large number of patients are expected to be diagnosed with CLL in these regions every year. In this article, we review issues regarding management of CLL in some less-resourced countries, with a focus on the evidence basis for epidemiological and clinical information on this disease, the availability of diagnostic and therapeutic resources, and participation in clinical trials. Going forward, challenges that still need to be addressed include the development of unified countrywide registries, guidelines for management applicable to each country, wider availability of prognostic tools, access to new drugs, and policies that ensure these drugs are affordable to all patients worldwide.