About the
Research
THE J. BENJAMIN ECKENHOFF FUND FOR RESEARCH IN HEMATOLOGY
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the Western world in adults. Recently there have been tremendous advances in both the understanding and treatment of this disease. In the past year our focus at Stanford has been on developing tests that can help in predicting the course of the disease in newly diagnosed patients. A better understanding of these prognostic risk factors will allow us to make better decisions about who to treat and when we should start treatment. We have also developed sensitive tests to detect even small numbers of CLL cells after patients have received therapy and know have newer, less-toxic therapies to offer patients who still have some residual disease.
In the next few months we will be starting an exciting clinical trial for previously untreated individuals with CLL. We will be testing these new prognostic factors and using them to decide when to start therapy in patients. We will be measuring responses with our more sensitive tests. Our goal is to change the treatment of CLL from a strategy of managing the disease to a strategy of eliminating the disease and curing our patients.
The J. Benjamin Eckenhoff Fund for Research in Hematology has supported work by researchers in the Department of Hematology at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California since inception in 1994.
THE BEN ECKENHOFF MEMORIAL BIKE RIDE
