As pandemic restrictions begin to loosen in many communities across the country, patients with CLL face greater uncertainty in this “new normal” at an increased risk for contracting COVID-19 and a response to the vaccine.
![[VIDEO PODCAST] Ep 04: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Navigating Uncertainty](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/0vv8moc6/accc-cancer/a78d59662a34ee04f67abaa7f07f1544e24edcc5-500x314.png?fit=crop&auto=format)


As pandemic restrictions begin to loosen in many communities across the country, patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) face greater uncertainty in this “new normal” due to their increased risk for contracting COVID-19 and a lower response rate to the vaccine.
On this episode, three clinicians discuss their experiences with difficult conversations on the relative risks and benefits around treatment decisions, engaging the entire cancer team in shared decision-making with patients, accessing emerging evidence and data in this rapidly evolving environment, and the potential impact of variant exposure on this unique patient population.
Guests:
John N. Allan, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, NY
Mark J. Fesler, MD
Director, Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO
Susannah P. Friemel, MD
Owner/President
Iowa Cancer Specialists, PC
Davenport, IA
This podcast is produced as part of the “Returning to Practice in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Hematology Disease Education” program. Funding & support provided by AbbVie. Learn more here.
April 7, 2025

Understanding both the benefits to be had from offering BsAb therapy to its community and the scope of this undertaking, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center took a novel approach with its APP-led BsAb step-up dosing clinic, which won the program a 2026 ACCC Innovator Award.
