iwCLL2013: Day 3 Heading Home Tomorrow Full of Hope and New Knowledge

The schedule at iwCLL 2013, Cologne, Germany has been exhausting but most hopeful.

My son and I completed interviews with ten different CLL specialists and I attended almost every hour of the three days of presentations.

More details to follow, but the bottom line take away message from the conference is that the future is bright for those of CLL, there are many reasons to be optimistic, and there is still much work to be done.

The CLL treatment landscape is changing in good ways that were unimaginable just two years, and truth be told, some doctors are quicker to embrace the seismic shifts associated with the novel therapies while others are still clinging to the old tried and true stalwarts of the past.

Expects some commentaries and videos over the next several weeks to explore this and many other topics.

We have a ton of post production work to do over the next several weeks and I have a ton of sleep to catch up on.

Next post when I am back in the USA.

And by the way, iwCLL will be in Sydney, Australia next year.

iwCLL 2013: Live from Cologne: The Opening Ceremony and Reception

Let me just say that this is going to an amazing conference. An Cologne is old worldly and charming, though vegan food will be a challenge. I am hoping I can find some time to wander the cobblestone streets and visit the Gothic cathedral. It was the tallest building in the word until the Eiffel tower was erected. And it took over 600 years to complete, started in the 1200s.

This is going to be a small but very concentrated conference on one subject only: CLL.

How concentrated?

In one row, attending the opening ceremony was Peter Hillmen, Kanti Rai, Carlos Croce, and Tom Kipps.

Talk about the who's who.

I heard about when to stop FCR (maybe sooner than 6 courses in MRD negative), epigenetics and some surprising and competing theories on clonal evolution, immune therapies, patient friendly clinical trial and this was all at the reception and opening ceremonies, which is not the scientific part of the meeting.

I got to get some sleep for a big day tomorrow.

 Michael Hallek Welcoming US to iwCLL 2013

 Professor Hallek and me

The reception (no vegan snacks, but I did enjoy a taste of the local beer, made only in Cologne)