DCEG and InterLymph investigators pooled data from 20 studies to comprehensively evaluate the etiology of 11 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) subtypes, considering family and medical history, lifestyle and occupational risk factors. While scientists have long suspected etiologic similarities and differences among the various lymphoid diseases, previous studies had been limited by small sample sizes and consideration of limited risk factors. Findings were published in a Journal of the National Cancer Institute monograph in 2014.
Additionally, the consortium has developed national and international collaborations to facilitate accrual of blood or buccal cell DNA on a large set of NHL cases for a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to understand the role of genetic variation in NHL risk, and identify new genes or genomic regions that may be important in NHL pathogenesis. Follow-up will include genotyping and sequence analyses of genomic regions associated with NHL.
Together these efforts will allow investigators to leverage our understanding of risk factors in the context of inherited genetic susceptibility.
Selected publications from the NHL genome-wide association study
For more information on the subtypes project, contact Lindsay Morton. For more information on the NHL GWAS, contact Nathaniel Rothman or Qing Lan.