Author(s):
In recognition of Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month, ACCC compiled a group of resources to help care teams navigate two of the most commonly diagnosed adult leukemias: acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
This September, Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month honors the difficulty of navigating a family of diseases that, despite sharing the word leukemia, can look almost nothing alike. Two of the most commonly diagnosed adult leukemias, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), sit at opposite ends of the spectrum: One demands urgent intervention, and the other calls for years of careful, ongoing management. Understanding both diseases and the resources available to support patients and caregivers through complex treatment decisions is essential to delivering coordinated, patient-centered care.
AML develops when white blood cells grow out of control and crowd the bone marrow, disrupting the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells. That disruption drives many of the disease’s hallmark symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of breath, easy bruising, and recurrent infections. AML is the most commonly diagnosed acute leukemia in adults, and the American Cancer Society estimates roughly 22,720 new cases nationally in 2026. The disease disproportionately affects older adults, with an average age at diagnosis of 69, and is notoriously difficult to manage well, particularly for patients facing financial or social barriers to timely care.
Treatment typically involves chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and, for eligible patients, allogeneic stem cell transplantation, with care teams weighing age, disease subtype, comorbidities, and overall health at every decision point. AML’s aggressive biology is reflected in its outcomes: The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program reports a five-year relative survival rate of 33.4%, a reminder of why quick diagnosis and tightly coordinated, multidisciplinary care matter so much.
CLL tells a very different story. It originates in B lymphocytes and can appear in not only the bone marrow and bloodstream, but also the lymph nodes, the spleen, and other organs. Rather than progressing rapidly, CLL typically behaves as a chronic condition that can linger for years and tends to recur even after successful treatment.
The American Cancer Society projects approximately 22,760 new cases in the US in 2026, and like AML, it is largely a disease of later life, with an average diagnosis age of around 70. The outlook, however, is markedly different: SEER data show a five-year relative survival rate above 90%, a dramatic improvement driven by targeted therapies, including Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) and BCL2 inhibitors, that have shifted CLL from a chemotherapy-dependent disease toward one managed by increasingly personalized, oral treatment regimens.
To help care teams keep pace with the fast-moving treatment landscape for leukemia, ACCC recently released a collection of guides, tip sheets, and videos.
In this three-part video series, Dan Pollyea, MD, MS, Clinical Director of Leukemia Services at the University of Colorado, and Raju Vaddepally, MD, Hematologist-Oncologist at Florida Cancer Specialists, talk through recent evolutions in AML treatment, the emergence of menin inhibitors, and what clinicians need to prioritize at the time of diagnosis. Representing the academic and community settings, respectively, Drs. Pollyea and Vaddepally offer a practical look at patient management and the role of multidisciplinary care coordination in AML, in addition to examining the clinical trial data behind newer therapies.
Despite advances in novel and targeted therapies, it is not uncommon for patients with AML to develop relapsed/refractory (R/R) disease. To help navigate R/R AML with a structured, precision medicine–driven approach, ACCC developed a guide for oncology teams to integrate molecular reassessment, measurable residual disease–informed strategy, and targeted therapies into treatment decision-making.
Because CLL care unfolds over years rather than weeks, care teams require resources designed to support the full arc of that journey. In answer, ACCC recently released two provider-facing tools to help care teams apply evidence at key decision points. The first outlines best practices for patient-centered CLL care from diagnosis through first-line treatment, offering actionable steps that cancer programs can take to optimize care delivery and ensure that patient communication is frequent and ongoing.
Since the introduction of targeted therapies for CLL management, such as covalent BTK inhibitors, patient outcomes and quality of life have been transformed compared with chemoimmunotherapy. Yet disease progression and intolerance remain important clinical challenges, and distinguishing the two is vital to informing next-line therapies. This evidence-based resource offers guidance on distinguishing progression from intolerance, therapeutic strategies for each, key considerations for treatment selection, and more.
Exploring how innovation, equity, and patient-centered approaches are shaping CLL care, this six-part video series follows patients from active surveillance through the transition to treatment. Experts also weigh in on first-line therapy selection, shared decision-making, newer fixed-duration oral regimens, and strategies for managing toxicity and supporting adherence.
A companion two-part video series turns to the relapsed/refractory setting for CLL, covering treatment options after covalent BTK inhibitor therapy and the patient-centered considerations that come with a harder-to-treat diagnosis. Together, these tools equip providers to support patients at every stage of a disease that, for many, becomes a lifelong endeavor.
AML and CLL sit at opposite ends of the leukemia spectrum, but both demand similar considerations from the cancer care team: multidisciplinary coordination, ongoing communication, and a commitment to delivering care that keeps patient needs at the center of everything. This Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month, ACCC encourages all members of the care team to explore these resources, share them with colleagues, and continue building the kind of team-based care that helps patients—whether facing a fast-moving diagnosis or a lifelong one—get the right care at the right time.
Recognizing the critical role advanced practice providers and allied health professionals play in the care continuum, the American Oncology Network provides infrastructure, leadership, and professional growth opportunities to empower these members of the cancer care team to practice at the top of their license.
