Providing hope for cancer patients

GRAMPIANS Health clinical trial coordinator, Maggie Zhang, is working to improve the survival rate of patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma is a non-Hodgkin lymphoma and a cancer of the lymphatic system.

It develops when the body makes abnormal B lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that usually helps fight infections.

Ms Zhang has been a registered nurse for more than 10 years and said clinical trials are critical to developing more effective treatments.

“The immuno-chemotherapy regimen is the current standard of care for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL, but 30 to 40 per cent of patients would still relapse on standard of care,” she said.

“Thus, the development of a more effective first-line therapy is essential to improve longterm outcomes, particularly in high-risk patients.”

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma is aggressive and the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Ms Zhang said she hopes clinical trials will provide more effective treatment options in the future.

“There are several early-stage trials for patients with DLBCL in the first line treatment setting, but none of these trials to date have led to practice-changing results and therefore the current chemotherapy treatment remains the standard first-line therapy for DLBCL,” she said.

“This study aims to improve the response rate and overall survival for first-line treatment in DLBCL.

“There is a high medical need for additional treatment options with improved outcomes and better safety profiles for patients with DLBCL.”