Episode 432: Long-Term Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Considerations for Oncology Nurses

"It's a chronic disease. It never goes away for some people, and so therefore it has these periods of remission where it's really quiet and well controlled. Then there can be periods of flares where you're actively engaged in treatment or it's impacting other pieces. There's this feeling patients have of, 'When am I going to have that flare?' You know, this anticipatory anxiety of, 'When are things going to be done differently?' or 'When do I need to change?'" ONS member Caitlin Murphy, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, chief nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, TCTCN™, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about long-term chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) considerations for oncology nurses.

Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD), including 15 minutes of pharmacotherapeutic content, by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by September 11, 2027. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to the nursing considerations of caring for people with long-term CLL.

Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 428: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Treatment Considerations for Oncology Nurses Episode 422: An Overview of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for Oncology Nurses Episode 256: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Hematologic Complications Episode 201: Which Survivorship Care Model Is Right for Your Patient? ONS Voice articles: Cardio-Oncology Program Monitors Heart Toxicities Throughout Survivorship Fixed-Duration Therapy for CLL May Lower Cardiovascular Risks and Costs Less Than Continuous Treatment Individuals With CLL Face Increased Risk for Skin Cancer Patients With CLL Report Worse QoL and Other Factors Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:  In Remission: A Patient's Experience of Continued Care After Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Venetoclax: Management and Care for Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia ONS book: Site-Specific Cancer Series: Leukemia (first edition) ONS Learning Libraries: Hematology, Cellular Therapy, and Stem Cell Transplantation Learning Library Survivorship Learning Library ONS Symptom Management Resources:  Prevention of Bleeding Prevention of Infection: General CLL Society: Living With CLL Lymphoma Research Foundation: Remission and Long-Term Survivorship National Comprehensive Cancer Network To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

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Highlights From This Episode "I think about the immunocompromised state that often comes from the CD20 monoclonal antibodies such as obinutuzumab, rituximab, and ofatumumab. All of those are agents that have been used in CLL, and they can lead to hypogammaglobulinemia. That is something that can be short-lived right after therapy, but can be prolonged or even a lifelong status after receiving these types of therapies. And then some of the other pieces that we think about are increased risk of basal cell carcinoma, routine skin exams, and maintaining some of those components of evaluation, monitoring, and preventative types of health care." TS 1:57

"We think about how we comanage some of these comorbidities, especially cardiovascular. … The evolution of cardio-oncology progra