Lydia Scarfò, MD, with the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy shares the top five things a newly diagnosed CLL patient needs to know.
- CLL does not always require treatment.
- If a patient does require treatment, there are new non-chemo targeted agent therapies that are very effective and well tolerated to manage CLL.
- It is very important for the patient to follow a healthy lifestyle to help protect their immune system.
- Patients are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated due to they are at a higher risk of infection.
- Get a yearly dermatologist checkup to screen for skin cancer. CLL patients are at a higher risk of skin cancer tumors. Frequent checkups can help catch skin tumors early on and be removed in an outpatient clinic.

