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?

• Can non-chemotherapy drugs such as monoclonal antibodies be added to current treatments to make them better? (See "How is non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children treated?" for a description of monoclonal antibodies.)

Last Medical Review: 07/08/2009
Last Revised: 07/08/2009