Module 2

Objectives

This module will provide the participants with an overview of what is involved in the diagnosis of lymphoma/CLL and to have the diagnostic tests involved explained. We will also discuss what is involved in staging of lymphoma/CLL, the tests explained and how they are used in treatment decision in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

At the completion of module two participants will have in depth knowledge on the techniques used to diagnose and stage lymphoma. Participants will understand;

  1. How is lymphoma/CLL diagnosed?
  2. What diagnostic tests are performed – what do they mean?
  3. What staging tests are performed & why 
  4. How to interpret results 
  5. What is involved in staging of lymphoma/CLL?
  6. What staging tools? are used
  7. What prognostic indicators are for lymphoma?

Module two presentations

Part 1: Diagnosis of lymphoma & diagnostic tests explained
Dr Colm Keane – Consultant Haematologist, Princess Alexandra Hospital & Mater Hospital, Brisbane

Dr Keane splits his time evenly between treating lymphoma patients at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and searching for better treatments in his laboratory next door at the TRI, where he is an NHMRC Early Career Fellow with Mater Research (University of Queensland). Dr Keane is particularly interested in harnessing the immune system to help improve patient outcomes, with a particular interest in rare lymphomas. Dr Keane has a Masters in Haematopathology from the University of York and an MBA from Griffith University. He also completed his PhD in lymphoma research with Griffith University in 2015. While undertaking his PhD, he held a Research Fellowship at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, before taking up a joint position with Mater Research and The University of Queensland.

Part 2: Staging of lymphoma: prognostic factors & scans explained
Dr Collin Chin, Haematology Fellow, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth

Dr Collin Chin is a Haematology Fellow at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, in Perth. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Western Australia in 2011 and completed his specialist training at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth followed by an Aggressive Lymphoma & Chimaeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy fellowship at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Victoria.

Collin has a specialist interest in the management of aggressive & indolent lymphoproliferative disorders, early phase clinical trials and immune effector cell (IEC) therapies including bispecific antibodies & CAR T-cell therapies. He has expertise in CAR T-cell therapy in high-risk and/or relapsed DLBCL & follicular lymphoma,having treated the first patients to receive CAR T-cells in Australia at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Collin has also co-authored the CAR T-cell referral pathway & toxicity management guidelines at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

After completing his fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Collin’s plan is to return to Perth and establish an immune effector cell (IEC) therapy unit for the treatment of high risk, relapsed and/or refractory lymphoproliferative disorders in Western Australia.

Post assessment

To be eligible for a certificate of attendance, you need to complete a short assessment. The certificate will be emailed to you shortly after you have submitted the assessment.

Evaluation Survey

Please complete our short evaluation survey (if you haven’t done so already) to let us know if we met your expectations and ensure we meet your future learning needs.

Further reading and resources

Selective immunophenotyping for diagnosis of B-cell neoplasms: immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry strategies and results

Scott Boyd, Yasodha Natkunam, John Allen and Roger Warnke, Appl Immunohistochemistry Molecular Morphology Journal, 2016
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4993814/

Cancer Molecular Profiling

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society – fact sheet
https://www.lls.org/sites/default/files/National/USA/Pdf/Publications/FS31_Cancer_Molecular_Profiling.pdf

Recommendations for initial evaluation, staging, and response assessment of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: the Lugano classification

Bruce Cheson, Richard Fisher, Sally Barrington, Franco Cavalli, Lawrence Schwartz, Emanuele Zucca & Andrew Lister, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2014
https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/jco.2013.54.8800

PET adapted treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma

Martin Hutchings, Blood Journal, October 2019.
https://ashpublications.org/blood/article/134/15/1200/374444/PET-adapted-treatment-of-Hodgkin-lymphoma

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Please note: Lymphoma Australia staff are only able to reply to emails sent in English language.

For people living in Australia, we can offer a phone translation service. Have your nurse or English speaking relative call us to arrange this.

Useful Definitions

  • Refractory: This means the lymphoma does not get better with treatment. The treatment didn’t work as hoped.
  • Relapsed: This means the lymphoma came back after being gone for a while after treatment.
  • 2nd line treatment: This is the second treatment you get if the first one didn’t work (refractory) or if the lymphoma comes back (relapse).
  • 3rd line treatment: This is the third treatment you get if the second one didn’t work or the lymphoma comes back again.
  • Approved: Available in Australia and listed by the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA).
  • Funded: Costs are covered for Australian citizens. This means if you have a Medicare card, you shouldn’t have to pay for the treatment.[WO7]

You need healthy T-cells to make CAR T-cells. For this reason, CAR T-cell therapy cannot be used if you have a T-cell lymphoma – yet.

For more information on CAR T-cells and T-cell lymphoma click here. 

Special Note: Although your T-cells are removed from your blood for CAR T-cell therapy, most of our T-cells live outside of our blood – in our lymph nodes, thymus, spleen and other organs.