Over the 30 years of its the bone marrow/stem cell transplantation program, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have forged strong partnerships with researchers around the world.
 |
Julie Vose, M.D. |
In one recent study, which shed new light on the treatment of T-cell lymphoma, these partnerships were critical.
“We don’t see a lot of cases of this rare kind of lymphoma, so our partnership with others around the world is one way everyone can share to advance our knowledge and help patients,” said Julie Vose, M.D., chief of the division of hematology/oncology. “T-cell lymphoma is more common in other parts of the world. It’s very important that we have the resources and expertise to be able to do these types of studies. There has not been adequate information on it.”
Dr. Vose, also a physician on staff at The Nebraska Medical Center, was involved in one international study that looked at 1,300 cases of T-cell lymphoma to identify which treatments were helpful and which ones weren’t
It produced surprising results.
|
|
As a result of the study, she said there will be changes in treatment.
“It’s important to tailor treatment since not all T-cell lymphomas are alike,” she said. “Some are aggressive, some slow growing. Some patients do better with certain combinations of therapies while others do better with other types of treatment. We need to understand why.”
In the past few years, Dr. Vose said two new drugs have been approved for T-cell lymphoma.
She said treatment of lymphomas have come a long way in 30 years, thanks to research. There are 50 different types of lymphoma.
“Physicians used to treat many lymphoma patients with the same treatments,” she said. “We didn’t understand that different types of lymphoma can benefit from different types of treatment. Now we know.”