Rare forms of cancer

T-cell lymphomas (TCL) are a group of rare, usually aggressive cancers in the body’s immune system, which affect about 100 people per year in Denmark. The prognoses are poor, and only one in three can be cured with the current treatments. Intense chemotherapy is given, and often, this also leads to complications. In almost 60% the treatment fails, or there is a relapse in spite of good effects at the start of the treatment. The current method used to assess the effect of treatment is PET/CT scanning. However, this method may be inadequate, since a relapse may occur even though a of a PET/CT scan does not show signs of “residual” disease after treatment is completed. Small numbers of cancer cells still remain, which are not shown by a PET/CT scan.

“A better solution for predicting the effect of treatment might be found in a blood test. Cancer cells release small sections of DNA (ctDNA) to the blood. That is what we will investigate,” says Martin Bjerregård Pedersen, MD, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor at Aarhus University Hospital Department of Haematology.

ctDNA has a unique genetic fingerprint that is different from DNA released by healthy cells, and it is only present when there are cancer cells in the body.

“We will measure and follow ctDNA in patients undergoing treatment for TCL, to assess the effect of the treatment and to trace relapses with the help of ctDNA. It is our hope that this can help to improve treatments and survival in patients with TCL,” explains Martin Bjerregård Pedersen.