CLL Classification Systems

This is the third in a series of slides from the recent CLL conference in Edinburgh that may be of interest to CLL patients.

‘Rai’ and ‘Binet’ are two classification systems for CLL disease severity, developed around the same time several decades ago. Rai is a US CLL expert, and Binet is a French expert. Both systems are still used, interchangeably. Some clinicians prefer one over the other. It’s likely that another, more modern classification will be developed in the next few years.

Some explanations:

The right-hand column is known disease duration since diagnosis in the individual patient being staged.

RAI:
Lymphocytosis = increased lymphocyte numbers in the blood.
Lymphadenopathy = increase in lymph node size.
Hb = haemoglobin, a measure of the red blood cells (Hb < 11 is anaemia).
Platelets < 100,000 is a reduced platelet number

BINET:
Lymphoid areas = anatomical areas of lymph node enlargement eg enlargement of nodes under the armpits, in the groin etc.