An Integrative Radiogenomic Framework for Predicting Treatment Failure in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults with Hodgkin Lymphoma
Abstract
FY21 PRCRP Topic Areas: Pediatric, adolescent, and young adult cancers; Lymphoma FY21 PRCRP Military Health Focus Areas: Mission Readiness: Gaps in cancer prevention, early detection/diagnosis, prognosis, and/or treatment that may impact mission readiness and the health and well- being of military members, Veterans, their beneficiaries, and the general public; Gaps in quality of life and/or survivorship that may impact mission readiness and the health and well-being of military members, Veterans, their beneficiaries, and the general public. Scientific Objective and Rationale: Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a leading cause of cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults. While the cure rates of HL in young patients are well above 90%, a subset of patients with difficult-to-treat diseases are facing relapses with conventional treatment. At the same time, overtreatment often causes toxic side effects, producing long-term disabilities, secondary cancers, and reducing the quality of life. Therefore, there is an unmet medical need to personalize therapy, especially in young patients with HL, by improving effectiveness of treatment while reducing undesired side effects. We here propose to leverage information gained from freely circulating tumor DNA molecules in the blood and from clinical imaging scans to identify molecular subtypes of these childhood cancers, and to better predict whether patients will respond to therapy or not. We will therefore carefully analyze clinical data, blood specimens, and functional imaging data from patients less than 21 years old treated within a single clinical trial, for advanced HL. Impact for Patients and Ultimate Applicability of the Research: The ultimate goal of our research is to offer individualized precision medicine tailored to the needs of a given patient and his/her disease. This will not only help to avoid excess toxicities leading to life-long disabilities, but also to find better therapies for the subset of patients who experience suboptimal responses to standard regimens. FY21 PRCRP Overarching Challenges: Develop and improve minimally invasive methods to detect cancer initiation, recurrence, and progression; transform cancer treatment through the identification of novel biomarkers and new targets, especially for advanced disease (metastatic and/or recurrence), improve immunotherapy, and eliminate the risks of therapy associated toxicity. With the proposed experiments, we will refine minimally invasive liquid biopsies and functional imaging to predict cancer recurrence and progression. We aim to identify novel genetic subtypes and biomarkers that may inform future therapies. Ultimately, these techniques will help to personalize therapy for advanced lymphomas, and to avoid excess toxicity. Relevance for active-duty Service Members, Veterans, and other military beneficiaries: Hodgkin’s lymphoma is among the most common cancers in children, adolescents, and young adults. This disease is therefore not only highly relevant for future enlistees, but also for current active-duty Service Members. Our research will help personalize and improve treatment for this disease. Our results will not only help to prevent future relapses, but also build tools for avoiding toxicities and long-term disabilities, improving quality of life, and improving mission readiness as relevant for our military health.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210337
Entities
People
- Steve Cho
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Wisconsin–Madison