UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the United States with a five-year survival rate of 64% overall (1996-03). Despite the promise of prognostic immune signatures, measurement of gene expression using microarrays is difficult in routine practice and evidence suggests that an exclusively genetic model is not sufficient to explain the outcome of NHL. Therefore, we propose to investigate tumor molecular markers that are routinely performed in pathology laboratory and lifestyle factors for their effects on NHL survival. Our Specific Aims are: 1) to compile a comprehensive database of epidemiologic data, clinical/laboratory prognostic factors, and treatments for NHL patients who participated in two existing case-control studies, 2) to determine the association of lifestyle factors (i.e., smoking, alcohol use, obesity, and intake of vegetables) with host microenvironment and tumor molecular markers (i.e., CD68, CD7, FOXP3, CD10, Ki67, LMO2, BCL6, BCL2, p53, and p21), 3) to investigate the association of lifestyle factors and host/tumor markers with clinical outcomes (relapse and survival), and 4) to determine which combination of markers are the most robust predictors of NHL outcome.