CLL in Germany: rising prevalence and growing use of BTK inhibitors

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common leukaemia in Germany and remains incurable. A new study in Annals of Hematology, co-authored by Antje Mevius (IPAM e.V.), used anonymised AOK PLUS claims data (2012-2023), extrapolated to the German population, to describe epidemiology, patient characteristics and treatment patterns, with a focus on covalent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors (cBTKi).

Key findings

• CLL prevalence increased from 101.7 to 165.4 per 100,000 individuals between 2012 and 2022, while incidence remained relatively stable.

• One third of the study population (1,616 of 4,901 patients) received treatment, and multiple treatment lines were common.

• Use of cBTKis increased from 2.4 to 15.7 per 100,000 individuals between 2015 and 2022.

• After cBTKi therapy, the most common next treatments were another cBTKi (53.8%) and anti-CD20 antibodies (41.3%); 30.8% received venetoclax-based regimens at any time.

These real-world findings highlight the increasing prevalence of CLL in Germany, the need for multiple lines of treatment and the growing role of cBTKi therapies.

Maqhuzu PN, Bocuk D, Boelz S, Khageh Hosseini S, Leeb C, Renevey F, Mevius A, Greth K, Christofyllakis K. Annals of Hematology (2025). Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-025-06580-y