International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML), Lugano 2017

The 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma took place in the Lugano Convention Centre, lake Lugano, Switzerland. An iconic venue with dramatic views located on the border with Italy, an ideal place as it combines Swiss organisation with delicious Italian cuisine and fantastic Mediterranean weather.

ICML is a must-attend event for the scientific community involved in the study and treatment of lymphoid neoplasms. The presentations and discussions included the most recent basic and clinical data by worldwide known haematologists, clinical oncologists, radio-oncologists, paediatricians, pathologists and leading researchers.

The program this year focused on immunotherapy for lymphoid neoplasms and researchers presented some impressive initial results. A large number of high-quality presentations included the latest updates about Antibody-drug Conjugates (empowered antibodies (mAbs) designed to harness the targeting ability of monoclonal antibodies by linking them to cell-killing agents.)

There were also some very interesting presentations on the use of radiotherapy for treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and the late effects as a result of treatment, which is my research field. Leading clinicians presented HL case studies and the indications for use of radiotherapy. Approaches to reduce late effects such as radiation related heart disease and second malignancies were also presented. I presented my work on late effects of Hodgkin lymphoma treatment, a comparison between 3 different radiotherapy methods and particularly the predicted cardiac and second cancer risks for patients treated with photon and proton beam radiotherapy. The main conclusion of my project was that proton radiotherapy can reduce cardiac and second cancer risks compared to conventional photon radiotherapy, particularly for young adults with large tumour volumes around the mediastinal and axilla area.  Some of the results can be seen on Figure 1 and Figure 2.

Figure 1: Estimated relative risks for heart failure based on mean left ventricular dose, for valvular disease based on mean mitral and aortic dose and lastly coronary disease based on mean heart dose.

Figure 2: Estimated annual incidence rates of breast cancer (females), lung cancer (males) and oesophageal cancer (males) in patients individuals and in the general population (No radiotherapy). Calculation based on rates for the whole of Europe for an individual aged 50.

*3D-CRT: 3D conformal radiotherapy (photons), PartArc: Partial Arc volumetric therapy (photons), Protons: Pencil beam scanning proton therapy.

Georgios Ntentas is a medical physicist whose DPhil project is investigating the link between radiation doses received by the heart during the treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma and the subsequent risk of heart failure.