Your disease subtype will determine your treatment
Another reason an accurate diagnosis matters? Your specific lymphoma subtype determines your treatment.
“The way we treat lymphoma today is very different from how we treated it 30 years ago,” notes Ahmed. “Cellular therapy has changed the way we treat lymphoma forever. Part of the change involves the use of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, which greatly depends on the markers that sit on top of the lymphoma cells. If you don’t have the right diagnosis based on the right markers, then you could potentially over-treat or mistreat a patient because you’re not using the right drugs.”
A lymphoma subtype can sometimes morph into something else
Lymphoma can sometimes morph into an entirely different variety, especially if the disease recurs.
“You can have an indolent lymphoma turn into a more aggressive subtype,” says Ahmed. “You can also have a person with two completely different kinds of lymphoma.”
“That’s why repeat biopsies are critical,” adds Westin. “The next targeted therapy agent you choose could be going after a target that’s no longer there. And, it’s not going to work if the cancer cell is not making that target anymore.”
To hear the complete conversation between Ahmed and Westin, listen to the podcast.
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