Trial Information

A Multi-Center International Hospital-Based Case-Control Study of Lymphoma in Asia (AsiaLymph)

The contribution of environmental, occupational and genetic factors to lymphoma has
generated a series of novel findings in studies of Caucasians. However, none of the chemical
associations have been conclusively established and the identification of the key,
functional alleles in gene regions associated with risk of NHL requires further elucidation.
Further, the ability to follow-up, confirm, and extend these observations is limited by the
low prevalence and limited range of several important chemical exposures and the high to
complete linkage disequilibrium among key candidate genetic loci in Western populations. To
optimize the ability to build on and clarify these findings, it is necessary to investigate
populations that differ from Caucasians in both exposure patterns and underlying genetic
structure. A multidisciplinary case-control study of lymphoma in Asia provides an
opportunity to replicate and extend recent and novel observations made in studies among
Caucasians in a population that is distinctly different with regard to patterns of key risk
factors, including range of exposures, prevalence of exposures, correlations between
exposures, and variation in gene regions of particular interest. Thus, a hospital-based
case-control study of lymphoma in Eastern Asia (i.e., AsiaLymph) of 3,300 cases and 3,300
controls to be enrolled over a three-year period will be conducted. The major postulated
risk factors for evaluation in this study are chemical exposures (i.e., organochlorines,
trichloroethylene, and benzene) and genetic susceptibility. Other factors potentially
related to NHL, such as viral infections, UV exposure, medical conditions, and other
lifestyle factors will also be explored. A particularly noteworthy aspect of AsiaLymph is
central pathology review with immunophenotyping by two of the world's leading lymphoma
pathologists, which will enable accurate analysis of findings by molecular and histologic
subtypes. AsiaLymph represents the optimal next step in the DCEG lymphoma portfolio.
AsiaLymph should confirm and extend previous findings, and yield novel insights into the
causes of lymphoma in both Asia and the West.