A 73-Year-Old Man Visits the Office for a Check-Up

A 73-year-old man visits the office for a check-up. He was diagnosed with CLL three years ago after normal laboratory tests indicated a significantly high leukocyte count. He is in good spirits. On examination, he was found to have stable lymphadenopathy. He has been researching treatment alternatives if his CLL progresses and is interested in an investigational medication that preferentially binds malignant cells. The medicine has been proven to considerably improve survival in people with stage 3 and 4 CLL while not curing the disease. If this new drug were widely used, what changes would be expected in the number of incident and prevalent cases of CLL?

A) The number of incident cases will decrease, the number of prevalent cases will decrease
B) The number of incident cases will increase, the number of prevalent cases will not change
C) The number of incident cases will decrease, the number of prevalent cases will increase
D) The number of incident cases will not change, the number of prevalent cases will increase
E) The number of incident cases will not change, the number of prevalent cases will not change