Creating a more personalised approach to treatment for DLBCL
Some people with DLBCL don’t respond well to current treatments. Professor Du wants to understand more about why this is, so these people can be given alternative treatment options, creating a more personalised approach to treatment.
The challenge
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a type of blood cancer that affects white blood cells called B-cells. B-cells play an important role in our immune system, helping to fight off infections. People with DLBCL have B-cells that are much larger than they should be. These enlarged B-cells also begin to spread and grow in places that they shouldn’t, such as the lymph nodes (small bean-shaped organs that are part of your immune system). It’s important to understand more about why this is, so these people can be given alternative treatment options.
The project
In this project, Professor Du and his team at the University of Cambridge want to understand more about a specific feature found in DLBCL cancer cells that they think gives the cancer cells an advantage and stops people responding well to treatments. They plan to conduct experiments in the lab to see if this can help them understand how the disease will progress. They can then use this new knowledge to better understand the disease so they can make the best treatment decisions for people with DLBCL.
The future
If successful, this research along with other ongoing studies will help healthcare professionals to choose the most suitable treatment for people with DLBCL based on how they’re expected to respond to treatments. It will also help in creating a more personalised approach to treatment, which will improve the quality of care people with DLBCL receive, giving them the best possible chance of survival.