On the 26^th of June a first version of the RNA matchmaking game has gone live on a German Gaming Portal. It can be played both on PC and on you mobile phone (landscape). This is a citizen science game which means that while you are gaming you are also benefiting science. In this game you can help our studies by finding the best targets for a specific small RNA molecule called microRNA-150. We found that this small RNA molecule plays an important role in B-cell lymphoma but we don’t now how exactly. We hope the gaming community can help by playing this game and find how and where this RNA molecule binds to other RNAs and so help explain how this RNA molecule functions. This game is the joint work of the game developing team at https://gamesforhealth.net/ and members of LRG Anke van den Berg and Joost Kluiver.

Currently this game can be played via this link (German): https://www.jetztspielen.de/spiel/unmask-lymphoma-part-1-rna-matching

On 21st of June Shiyun Hu presented her work on circZDHHC11 at the 5th International Conference on the Long and the Short of Non-Coding RNAs in Crete, Greece. In recognition of her work she was awarded with a travel award.

During the 5th International Conference on the Long and the Short of Non-Coding RNAs Nohora Rueda Forero presented a poster on the role of EBV derived miRNAs in Hodgkin Lymphoma and Penny Pan on the identification of miR-590 as an important regulator of CD30 expression and Brentuximab-Vedotin resistance.

At the EHA2024 LRG members Wouter Plattel presented SERUM TARC COMBINED WITH FDG-PET IMAGING IMPROVES INTERIM RESPONSE EVALUATION IN CLASSIC HODGKIN LYMPHOMA: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF GERMAN HODGKIN STUDY GROUP HD16 AND HD18 TRIALS and Marcel Nijland on FEASIBILITY AND CLINICAL EFFICACY OF ATEZOLIZUMAB CONSOLIDATION IN HIGH RISK DIFFUSE LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA: FINAL ANALYSIS OF THE HOVON 151  . Both studies and others were further discussed by Wouter Plattel at EHA 2024 MEDtalks and can be viewed here.

During the EHA2024 Nick Veltmaat presented his E-poster on the 14th of June. His work concerns the exploration of the feasibility of using cfDNA for genomic profiling. It can be used as a potential prognostic tool and as a for disease tracking in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). Three distinct groups based on EBV and SOCS1 mutational status were unveiled. The EBV−, SOCS1 mutated cluster exhibited the highest TARC- and MTV values, accompanied by the presence of 8 out of 9 relapses in our cohort. Sequential ctDNA dynamics were consistent with both sequential TARC levels and quantified FDG-PET results. Together, he showed that cfDNA analysis holds high promise for non-invasive molecular profiling and disease tracking in cHL. A second poster was a proof-of-concept study presented by Roeland Vas Nunes on the use of 18-FDG PET/CT IMAGING to discriminate between classical Hodgkin Lymphoma subtypes.

On April 16th we participated in the first ALLEGRO (Alliance for Lymphoma Research LEiden- GROningen) meeting. With the groups of  Joost Vermaat and Hendrik Veelken of the LUMC we discussed various research projects and topics to find further common ground  to join forces and together enhance  the quality of our fundamental, translational and more clinical research projects focusing on various lymphoma subtypes.

Early February Johanna Veldman, Anke van den Berg, Arjan Diepstra and Joost Kluiver attended and presented at the first Leopoldina Workshop on Hodgkin Lymphoma and Related Diseases in Halle, Germany. A great and inspiring focused meeting. In this meeting organized by Martin Leo Hansmann, Roland Schmidt and Ralf Kuppers  state-of-the-art research on Hodgkin lymphoma was lively and enthousiastically discussed and is expected to be continued. We are already looking forward to the next meeting.

Kirsten Drost and Sandra Versteeg from the lymphoma research funding organization Lymph&Co visited Anke van den Berg and Joost Kluiver to discuss how their funding helped our research and what outcomes were achieved. We talked about how important such a funding organization is to allow much needed research on lymphoma to better understand the disease and how lymphoma patients may benefit from this.

It is possible to detect Hodgkin lymphoma early by using a simple blood test. This test identifies highly elevated levels of the specific protein TARC, that is secreted by Hodgkin’s tumour cells. In fact, an increased amount of TARC protein can be detected three to six years prior to  diagnosis. This novel finding was revealed by research led by hematopathologist Arjan Diepstra in collaboration with Wouter Plattel, Anke van den Berg and Lydia Visser. It indicates that Hodgkin lymphoma is a relatively slow-growing tumour that often exists for a long time before symptoms appear. For more information read here, the full paper can be found here. A recent interview related to this publication can be found here.

After several successful initial collaborations (PMID: 35454765, PMID: 37705050 , PMID: 29514783, PMID: 36208568) with the group of Hematologist Joost Vermaat  at the LUMC we started an official collaboration in October 2023. This collaboration was officially named ALLEGRO (Alliance for Lymphoma Research LEiden- GROningen). The goal of the collaborative effort is to join forces and together enhance quality of our translational research projects focusing on various lymphoma subtypes.