Projects we fund

Overview

Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in young people but diagnosis is often delayed because signs and symptoms are attributed to diseases that are more common in this age group.  This may lead to avoidable illness and anxiety.  Diagnostic delays may also result in spread of the disease and the need for more treatment, although are unlikely to affect overall outcome.  Blood samples from almost all untreated Hodgkin lymphoma patients contain high levels of a molecule called CCL17, and we have shown that a raised CCL17 level is a good predictor of Hodgkin lymphoma, particularly in young people. This data suggests that a simple and cheap blood test could be used to identify Hodgkin lymphoma patients among those presenting enlarged lymph glands to their GP, or other symptoms associated with Hodgkin lymphoma.  A high CCL17 level would lead to immediate referral to an appropriate hospital clinic for further investigation.  The research on CCL17 as an early diagnostic marker of Hodgkin lymphoma has, thus far, been carried out in the hospital setting, and the team now want to evaluate this test in primary care.  This presents challenges and so, before planning a large study, we need to gather more information about the best methods of recruiting participants, and the number of participants we will need to definitively evaluate our test. CCL17 is a known marker of active Hodgkin lymphoma but we are not aware of any other research testing this, or other markers, for use in early diagnosis.

What difference will this project make?

The study will inform the design of a larger study evaluating the value of CCL17 testing for the early diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma in the primary care setting.  It is hoped that this large study will lead to the introduction of CCL17 testing into routine healthcare.  Through earlier diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma in young people, the team hope to avoid unnecessary illness and anxiety before reaching the diagnosis and to streamline the diagnostic process. In some cases, earlier diagnosis may also lead to initiation of treatment at an earlier disease stage, when less intensive treatment is required.  This, in turn, could lead to a reduction in late side-effects, which continue to be an important consideration in Hodgkin lymphoma treatment.