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Clinicians Working Group

We recognise the importance of guidelines and protocols in setting care standards for people living with CLL and immune challenges. Every country may not have their own guidelines, care standards or protocols in place, and so may look to other national or international guidelines when caring for people with CLL. However, critical gaps remain, impacting treatment and care.

Recognising this, the Working Group are developing a clear call to action to clinical leaders, researchers and decision-makers to revise existing CLL guidelines and care standards to incorporate immune challenges into future iterations of CLLguidelines and care standards.

Mission and objectives

Mission

Mission

To ensure the clinical community recognises the impact of immune challenges.

Objective

To create new resources to support and educate the clinical community that directly address immune challenges faced by people living with CLL.

Key deliverables

The Clinical Working Group have commissioned Picker – a health and social care research charity – to undertake desk research and a modified Delphi study to support the aim of influencing global clinical guidance for monitoring and managing immunosuppression in people with CLL.

The desk research will seek to understand the current landscape of immunechallenges within CLL guidelines or care standards globally. The research aims to understand how immune challenges are understood and addressed within the guidelines, and to identify any gaps. The findings from the desk research will inform the development of the modified Delphi study. The study will seek to understand ‘best practice’ globally from a clinical perspective and to reach a consensus on how immune challenges should be incorporated into guidelines and care standards.

Timeline and milestones

The Working Group held its first virtual meeting in July 2025. The group discussed the aims, objectives and scope of the research as well as next steps.

Picker – the charity commissioned to undertake this research – were appointed in October 2025. The research will be undertaken in three stages:

1. Identify and review the most influential and widely used guidelines and carestandard to develop a checklist that can serve as a benchmark

2. Review resources identified by the Working Group, to compare them against
the checklist, identify gaps and record any additional standards that havebeen identified

3. Undertake the modified Delphi study, recruiting a panel of experts to reviewthe desk research findings and build consensus on key components toaddress immune challenges

Between November and December 2025, Picker undertook stage 1. In Q1 2026, Picker will complete stage 2 and develop a draft report with the findings from thevdesk research. Stage 3 will commence thereafter.

Members of the Clinical Working Group

Co-chairs

• Dr Helen Parry: Associate Professor, Institute of Immunology andImmunotherapy, University of Birmingham and Honorary Consultant, QueenElizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
• Dr Lydia Scarfò: Physician Scientist, B-Cell neoplasia unit, AssistantProfessor, Universita Vita-Salute San Raffaele

Members

• Dr Petra Langerbeins: Senior Haematologist and Oncologist, University ofCologne and Scientific Secretary, German CLL Study Group
• Dr Jennifer Brown: Director, CLL Center of the Division of HematologicMalignancies Lianne Palmer: CNS, Oxford Cancer and Haematology Centre
• Dr Miguel Pavlovsky: Medical and Scientific Director, FUNDALEU Dr Versha Banerji: Associate Professor, Max Rady College of Medicine,University of Manitoba
• Dr Sanford Greenhouse: GP
  Prof Clemens-Martin Wendtner: Medical Director, Munich Clinic Schwabing
• Prof John Seymour: Director of the Haemotology Department, PeterMacCallum Cancer Centre & The Royal Melbourne Hospita
• Dr Brian Koffman : Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, CLLSociety Inc. and CLLAN Steering Committee Member
• Deborah Henderson: Director, Henderson Media Group
• Dr Catherine Moura: CEO, Abrale – Brazilian Lymphoma and LeukemiaAssociation and Abrasta – Brazilian Association of Thalassaemia
• Jana Pelouchova: Founder and Chair, Diagnoza Leukemia
• Prof Norah O. Akinola, FACP: Haematologist, Department of Haematologyand Blood Transfusion, Obafemi Awolowo University and Teaching HospitalsComplex, Ile-Ife
• Prof Stephen Opat: Director, Clinical Haematology, Monash Health;Founder & chair, Australasian Lymphoma and Related Diseases Registry
• Dr Yervand Hakobyan: Head of Haematology and Transfusion MedicineDepartment, National Institute of Health, MH RA, ArmeniaMegan Yuan:AstraZeneca
• Stefan Wietek: Takeda
• Jenni Mildon: Johnson&Johnson

For specific queries, please contact: CLLICTaskforce@mhpgroup.com