Why is it important to predict a lymphoma patient's chances for survival?
There are many reasons. From the oncologist's perspective, predicting outcome may be important in choosing optimal therapy, or deciding whether the patient is eligible for a particular research study. If, for example, a patient has an excellent chance of survival, and falls into a "low risk" group, then the physician could recommend a standard, well-tolerated therapy. If, however, the patient does not have excellent survival chances (with traditional therapies), and is in a "high risk" group, one might, propose to the patient some form of experimental therapy rather than the standard therapy.
Also, in order to make informed decisions, patients ought to be given some idea of what to expect, both in terms of effectiveness of therapy, and toxic side effects. An elderly patient, for example, with a very low chance of survival, may decide not to receive chemotherapy, or may opt for a less toxic treatment approach, even if other, more toxic therapies may offer a slightly better chance of survival.
What does this new genetic test measure?
The test, which is called DNA microarray, provides a good representation of the gene expression pattern of a tumor and and at the same time, provides a comparative picture of the pattern of gene expression in the tumor cells compared to that in normal cells.
How does it work?
In very broad terms, genetic material (RNA) is extracted from the tumor cells and "translated" into DNA (genes), which is "tagged" with a colored fluorescent material, let's say red. The same extraction process is done in normal cells, and this DNA is tagged with green dye.
