In this video from OncLive, CLL Program Director, Dr. Richard Furman joins a panel of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) experts to discuss the practice of using CT scans to monitor CLL.
In agreement with the other members of the panel, Dr. Furman commented,
“One of the additional factors that I think really has to be taken into account, and I couldn’t agree with the both of you more, is that now that our CLL patients have options beyond chemotherapy, their longevity is going to dramatically increase. Radiation tends to have a late effect, and now our patients have a future to be thinking about. And so, I really think doing away with CT scans as much as possible is certainly important. And there’s tremendous overuse of PET scanning, which is really not necessarily more radiation, but it’s the idea that, unless you suspect someone has Richter’s transformation, a PET scan doesn’t really add a lot to the care of the patient. And it really is just unnecessary radiation.”
New Developments in Lymphoma 