Simple blood test could revolutionise treatment plans for Hodgkin Lymphoma patients Posted on February 21, 2013February 25, 2018 by Carly du Toit Queensland researchers are paving the way towards less invasive and more personalised treatment plans for patients with the blood cancer type, Hodgkin Lymphoma. Based at Queensland’s Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), the research team have developed a blood test which detects levels of a key protein – known as CD163 – during and after Chemotherapy. Importantly, CD163 shows elevated levels in Hodgkin lymphoma patients’ serum, and it decreases when tumours shrink after treatment. “Testing for these protein levels, using a simple blood test, could show doctors whether the treatment is working, whether they can reduce the doses, or, conversely, whether they need to increase the doses to beat the cancer,” said Ms Kimberly Jones, who co-led the research study together with Professor Maher Gandhi. Continue reading “Simple blood test could revolutionise treatment plans for Hodgkin Lymphoma patients”
