Researchers Make Breakthrough Finding On Follicular Lymphoma

SINGAPOR (Bernama) - An international team of scientists,
epidemiologists and clinicians from Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Canada,
Australia and the United States have identified key genetic risk variants that
signal the likelihood of developing blood cancers known as follicular lymphoma.

Follicular lymphoma is a member of the group of blood cancers known as
non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) or a collection of diverse blood cancers known as
lymphomas.

The scientists were able to confirm the existence of a previously reported
genetic risk variant in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region that signals an
increased risk of contracting follicular lymphoma.

“The genetic risk factors underlying human diseases such as non-Hodgkin
lymphoma are not well understood.

"Our strength in conducting massive genome-wide studies has enabled us to
combine information from a wide spectrum of genomes to identify these risk
factors," said Dr Jianjun Liu, senior group leader and associate director of the
human genetics programme at the Genome Institute of Singapore.

In Singapore, lymphomas are the eighth most common cancer among men and the
third most common among children and young adults in Singapore.