Stamford Health is part of a breakthrough trial that has greatly improved the health of certain leukemia patients.

Christine Knoll-Finn is living with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was diagnosed in 2017.

"I found this trial, and it looked like it was very promising," said Knoll-Finn.

Knoll-Finn came all the way from New Jersey for the trial at Stamford Health in collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham & Women, which tested three drugs on CLL patients. The results were staggering.

"85% of patients after more than a year of treatment had no detectable leukemia with some of the most sensitive tests that we can do," said Dr. Steve Lo, the director of medical oncology and hematology at the Bennett Cancer Center with Stamford Health.

Lo is Knoll-Finn's doctor and says she was the second patient at the center to participate in the trial. Her treatment lasted a year.

"She's a tough cookie. She sailed through it. We had some bumps along the way certainly, but the results were just so spectacular," said Lo.

Now she's in complete remission. Her brother-in-law also has CLL and she hopes the trial might help him.

"I feel this trial and what I'm doing gives him hope for the future," said Knoll-Finn.

Since the trial, Stamford Health is seeing more people coming for treatment from out of state.

The results of the trial were recently presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting.