CCL17 and the evaluation of lymphadenopathy (CANDEL) v1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluation of CCL17 as a diagnostic biomarker for classical Hodgkin lymphoma

• IRAS ID

  211534

• Contact name

  Ruth F Jarrett

• Contact email

  ruth.jarrett@glasgow.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  NHS GG&C

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is one of the commonest cancers in teenagers and young adults. The disease usually presents with enlarged lymph glands in the neck and more generalized symptoms such as tiredness, fever, night sweats and itchy skin. Since cancers are rare in young people, these signs and symptoms are often attributed to more common diseases, including infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever), whose management traditionally follows a ‘watchful waiting’ approach. The cancer diagnosis is often delayed leading to unnecessary illness and anxiety, spread of disease, and distrust of doctors.
  Blood samples from almost all people with untreated cHL contain high levels of a molecule called CCL17. This raised the possibility that a simple blood test could be used to screen people seeing general practitioners with signs and symptoms suggesting a possible diagnosis of cHL. A positive result would lead to immediate hospital referral with a view to performing a lymph node biopsy, thus speeding up the diagnostic process.
  Although most people with cHL have higher circulating levels of CCL17 than healthy controls, data on CCL17 levels in other diseases are limited. The main aim of this study is to determine whether CCL17 can be used to correctly identify young people with cHL among patients referred to hospital with similar symptoms. CCL17 will be measured in all patients and then correlated with final diagnosis. The range of CCL17 levels in atopic dermatitis (eczema) patients will also be determined, as raised CCL17 has been reported in this condition. To further analyse specificity of CCL17 for cHL, we will test 1,000 anonymised, non-selected, serum samples from young people. 1,000 anonymised samples submitted for glandular fever diagnosis will also be tested to determine whether some have high CCL17 levels and could potentially be from undiagnosed cHL patients.

• REC name

  West of Scotland REC 4

• REC reference

  16/WS/0249

• Date of REC Opinion

  11 Jan 2017

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion