Hodgkin Lymphoma & Stem Cell Treatments

Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer of lymph tissue. More than 75% of all newly diagnosed patients with adult Hodgkin lymphoma can be cured with combination chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy (Gondos, 2008). National mortality has fallen more rapidly for adult Hodgkin lymphoma than for any other malignancy over the last 5 decades (Gondos, 2008). Treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma depends on the type, stage, size, age, and other medical factors as well as if it is found in the liver, bone marrow, spleen, or other sites.

• An estimated 8,500 people (4,790 men and 3,710 women) in the United States will be diagnosed.
• 1,120 deaths (640 men and 480 women) from this cancer will occur this year.
• The survival rate has been going up the past 40 years thanks to treatment improvements.

Dr. Michael Craig from West Virginia University is currently recruiting for an interventional clinical trial that will use two different preparative regimens (chemotherapy and radiation) followed by one or two umbilical cord units. Hematopoietic progenitor cell transplant can be a curative therapy for the treatment of hematologic malignancies (a disease of the bone marrow and lymph nodes). Cord blood that has been harvested from an umbilical cord shortly after birth has a rich supply of cells needed for transplant. One of the main disadvantages is that cord blood has a smaller number of cells available than usually needed for transplant. In an adult, usually two cord units are needed; larger recipients can be disqualified because they need too many cells.

Sources:

• Brenner H, Gondos A, Pulte D: Ongoing improvement in long-term survival of patients with Hodgkin disease at all ages and recent catch-up of older patients. Blood 111 (6): 2977-83, 2008.
•  Well. (n.d.). The New York Times.

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