Congratulations to Dr Suzanne Turner, Paediatric Cancer Programme Co-Lead and Group Leader in the Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, who has recently been awarded a new project grant from CCLG to investigate ALK negative Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.
The grant is funded by the Super Ru CCLG special named fund, a specific fund put together by the friends and family of Ruairi Hackland. When Ruairi Hackland was diagnosed with anaplastic lymphoma kinase negative (ALK-), a subtype of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), in July 2019, aged two, the Super Ru Special Named Fund was set up to raise funds for much-needed research into this extremely rare form of the disease.
Now, Suzanne Turner and her group have been awarded £65,231 to develop a new understanding of the genetics of ALK- ALCL.
The large majority of the ALCL types of lymphoma affect children and young adults and it is important for clinicians to understand as much as possible about the different sub-forms of lymphoma, as this helps them the decide the best specific treatment options for a patient. Children with ALCL usually have a form of lymphoma where a protein called Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK+) is activated and treatment include drugs which work by stopping this protein. As yet, there has been no research into children with ALK- ALCL and whether the tumours show other genetic mutations, and how this might affect their prognosis.
Dr Turner will work collaboratively with the European Intergroup for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (EICNHL) to analyse a collection of tumours from more than 25 children across Europe who have the ALCL ALK- form of lymphoma. Her project will use a technique called fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) together with next generation sequencing to learn more about the genetic markers present in this ALCL subtype. She will identify whether children with ALCL, ALK- also harbour other genetic changes in their tumours, and what affect this has on how their cancer progresses. This knowledge can help to guide clinicians about how best to treat children with this rarer sub-form of lymphoma.
