Prof Robin Foà - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy and Prof Michael Hallek - University of Cologne, Germany.

As the average life expectancy increases in western nations, the issue of how to treat cancer in the elderly is becoming an increasingly important issue. The most common leukaemia in the western world is CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukaemia); Prof Robin Foà and Prof Michael Hallek outline the different therapies available and discuss the factors which influence clinicians' choice of CLL treatment. There is a need for more clinical trials to develop drugs with lower toxicity profiles which can be tolerated by less fit elderly patients. Profs Foà and Hallek speak about the low toxicity and potential role of kinase inhibitors and antibodies, the necessity to adjust treatment for different patient subgroups and the need for a standard measure to define patient fitness.

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