Follicular\u00a0Lymphoma (FL) is a\u00a0type of blood cancer and a form of\u00a0non-Hodgkin’s\u00a0lymphoma. Thanks to new\u00a0treatment\u00a0breakthroughs, about 80% of FL\u00a0patients have a\u00a0survival rate of more than 10 years. The other 20%, however,\u00a0experience\u00a0a\u00a0quickly\u00a0recurring\u00a0or a\u00a0more\u00a0aggressive version.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Researchers from\u00a0the\u00a0University of Missouri School of Medicine\u00a0may have found a way to\u00a0identify\u00a0the patients at risk of\u00a0recurrence, without the need for\u00a0imaging and surveillance\u00a0testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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We found over 10\u00a0genetic or molecular markers unique to patients whose\u00a0FL\u00a0cancer relapsed early. These biomarkers are usually genetic mutations, and\u00a0our data suggests they\u00a0can be detected as early as\u00a0at the time of\u00a0diagnosis.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Cherian Verghese,\u00a0study author\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Verghese and his team looked at the genetic and molecular data of\u00a0relapsed\u00a0FL patients over a 14-year time span, from 2009 to 2023.\u00a0Some of the\u00a0markers\u00a0have been used in past\u00a0prognostic\u00a0models\u00a0that also tried to\u00a0identify\u00a0patients\u00a0in the at-risk population, but\u00a0many\u00a0of these models had\u00a0limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“These limitations include the use of less reliable clinical predictors of relapse, like cancer stage or tumor grade,” Verghese said.\u00a0“Specific genetic mutations within these cancers appear to be\u00a0better\u00a0in predicting relapse\u00a0than these other predictors.\u00a0It’s\u00a0possible that these mutations give exceptional survival advantages to certain cancer cells, making relapses happen.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being able to\u00a0identify\u00a0the patients prone to an early relapse can improve their outcomes\u00a0and reduce excessive imaging for other patients with FL. As a result, this can lower costs\u00a0and save time\u00a0for both the patient and the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Cancer is a devastating diagnosis.\u00a0Patients will undergo what\u00a0can\u00a0feel like countless tests and scans, in addition\u00a0to\u00a0long courses of\u00a0treatment,” Verghese said. “Being able to\u00a0determine who\u00a0might relapse early can help us individualize cancer care\u00a0to each person’s needs,\u00a0potentially reducing\u00a0the number of tests needed while\u00a0still prioritizing patient outcomes.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cherian Verghese,\u00a0MD,\u00a0MPH\u00a0is an associate professor of medicine at the Mizzou School of Medicine, and\u00a0a\u00a0hematologist-oncologist\u00a0at MU Health Care.\u00a0He is also the\u00a0Charles R. and Veta G. Claiborn Distinguished Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
University of Missouri-Columbia<\/a><\/p>\n Journal reference:<\/p>\n Verghese, C., et al. (2026) Surveillance Strategies in Follicular Non-Hodgkin\u2019s Lymphoma\u2019s Using Molecular and Genetic Markers Improve Cost-efficiencies Over Routine Imaging Studies. American Journal of Clinical Oncology. DOI:\u00a010.1097\/COC.0000000000001282.\u00a0https:\/\/journals.lww.com\/amjclinicaloncology\/fulltext\/9900\/surveillance_strategies_in_follicular.382.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follicular\u00a0Lymphoma (FL) is a\u00a0type of blood cancer and a form of\u00a0non-Hodgkin’s\u00a0lymphoma. Thanks to new\u00a0treatment\u00a0breakthroughs, about 80% of FL\u00a0patients…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4250,141706,2534,2286,145632,13695,22349,3193,111,139,188774,69,6840,1518,147],"class_list":["post-357330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-blood","tag-blood-cancer","tag-cancer","tag-genetic","tag-hodgkins-lymphoma","tag-imaging","tag-lymphoma","tag-medicine","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-non-hodgkins-lymphoma","tag-nz","tag-oncology","tag-research","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}