NEW YORK – The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute said on Monday that it has received a $325,372 grant from the U Can-Cer Vive Foundation to support research on diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
The grant will fund a pilot study that will measure circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to help identify patients likely to relapse after autologous stem cell transplantation.
DLBCL is an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that affects B lymphocytes in a patient's tissue. The disease is typically detected using a tissue biopsy based on expression of B-cell marker proteins.
Patients are usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and monoclonal antibody drugs that target the disease's cancerous B cells. However, about 30 percent of patients relapse after standard treatment.
Dipenkumar Modi, study leader and a member of Detroit-based Karmanos' hematology multidisciplinary team, said in a statement that current methods for detecting DLBCL are not sensitive enough to spot patients who may relapse after transplant.
"Through this study, we hope to find a biomarker to help identify patients at high risk of relapse and predict transplant outcomes," Modi added. "This will have a significant impact on patient care, and the results of this study will set the foundation for precision medicine-driven treatment strategies in DLBCL."