Development of a Hodgkin lymphoma recurrence algorithm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of a Hodgkin lymphoma recurrence algorithm for routinely collected data
IRAS ID
347675
Contact name
Lorna J Roden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of blood cancer that typically has a favourable prognosis, with over 75% of patients surviving for 10 years or more following diagnosis. Most are considered cured. However, a proportion of patients experience recurrence, meaning the cancer returns, necessitating further and often more intensive treatment. These treatments carry an increased risk of long-term side effects. A key goal in HL management is to achieve cure while minimising adverse effects.
Clinical trials are commonly used to study the effects of treatments such as radiotherapy on recurrence rates. However, these trials recruit highly selective cohorts that do not reflect real-world populations. While national data is currently collected on patients with HL, recurrence is not routinely reported. This limits our ability to evaluate the true impact of radiotherapy on recurrence at the population level.
This study aims to address this gap by developing an algorithm capable of detecting recurrence patterns within routinely collected data. The algorithm will be trained and tested using retrospective, anonymised data from adult patients in the Yorkshire and Humber region, where recurrence status is already known. Paediatric cases will be excluded, as treatment protocols differ and would require a separate algorithm.
Once developed, the algorithm will be linked with existing UK-wide data to test its performance on a broader population. Various outcome measures will be used to assess its accuracy, and internal validation will be carried out. The resultant algorithm could then be applied to evaluate recurrence rates in HL patients who received radiotherapy compared with those who did not.
In the future, this algorithm may also be adapted for use in similar disease groups, such as patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
25/WA/0211
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jul 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion