Despite treatment advances and excellent five-year relative survival rates for people diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, not all patients receive recommended treatment and survivorship care. These differences may explain the poorer survival and quality of life outcomes burdening underserved populations.
A team of University of Florida researchers led by principal investigators Raymond B. Mailhot, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology in the UF College of Medicine, and Erin M. Mobley, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Surgery in the UF College of Medicine — Jacksonville, have been awarded a five-year, $2.3 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to uncover the reasons for the differences in treatment delivered and impact of those differences.
The researchers’ proposal was further selected for an NCI MERIT award distinction, which allows up to seven years of funding based on evaluations by the NCI Program and the National Cancer Advisory Board.
The team’s patient-centered research project proposes that key, distinct social factors influence the type of treatment received and survivorship care engagement among people with Hodgkin lymphoma.
Prior research has shown differences in treatment and survivorship care of Hodgkin lymphoma patients as associated with socioeconomic, marital, rural, and insurance factors. Precisely how these and other factors uniquely influence each age group will be identified by the team through analyses of information provided by two large databases: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Research, the largest international repository of stem cell transplant data.
“Our proposed cohort of 26,233 Hodgkin lymphoma survivors represents one of the largest to date,” said Mobley. “This will help us better determine the pathways explaining differences in treatment and survivorship care among these survivors.”
The team will also investigate how patients, survivors and caregivers approach treatment and survivorship care decision-making through interviews, facilitated by advocacy organization partners including Cactus Cancer Society, Elephants & Tea, Blood Cancers United, Live Like Bella and Stupid Cancer.
“To effectively design future interventions that improve survival and quality of life – such as personalized survivorship care based on treatment received – it’s crucial to prioritize the experiences and perspectives of patients and survivors,” said Mailhot. “We’ll achieve this through in-depth interviews with survivors, conducted in partnership with advocacy organizations.”
Mailhot and Mobley ultimately hope that the study will address existing gaps in Hodgkin lymphoma research and ensure that the voices of all patient groups inform future interventions to improve Hodgkin lymphoma treatment, survivorship care, and, ultimately survival.
The study’s co-investigators include Amy Crisp, Ph.D., Center for Data Solutions, UF College of Medicine Jacksonville; Carla L. Fisher, Ph.D., M.S.W., and Yi Guo, Ph.D., from the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, UF College of Medicine; Alex Parker, Ph.D., UF College of Medicine — Jacksonville; and Sharon Castellino, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Emory University College of Medicine.
