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Research on the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood
non-Hodgkin lymphoma is being done at many medical centers, university
hospitals, and other institutions across the nation.
Genetics
As noted in the section "Do
we know what causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children?"
scientists are making great progress in understanding how changes in
DNA can cause normal lymphocytes to develop into lymphoma cells.
Understanding the gene changes that often occur in non-Hodgkin
lymphoma is providing insight into why these cells may grow too
rapidly, live too long, and not develop into normal, mature cells.
Eventually, this information may be used to develop treatments for
lymphoma.
This progress has already led to vastly improved and highly
sensitive tests for detecting this disease. Tests such as the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can identify non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells
based on some of these gene changes. This test can find one tumor cell
among a million normal cells. It is useful in determining how
completely the lymphoma has been destroyed by treatment and whether a
relapse is likely.
Clinical trials of new treatments
Most children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma are treated at major
medical centers, where treatment often involves taking part in clinical
trials to provide the most up-to-date care. Several important questions
are now being studied in clinical trials, such as:
- Can all localized (stages I and II) non-Hodgkin lymphoma be
treated similarly?
- What is the best length of treatment of each type of
non-Hodgkin lymphoma?
- Do drugs that support more rapid recovery of normal bone
marrow cells (growth factors) have a place in the treatment of children
with non-Hodgkin lymphoma?
- Can less intense treatment provide as good an outcome as
the highly intense treatments and thus avoid some long-term side
effects?
- Can new chemotherapy drugs and new combinations of drugs
improve cure rates?
Last Medical Review: 07/08/2009
Last Revised: 07/08/2009
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