Kinetics of circulating plasma cell-free DNA in paediatric classical Hodgkin lymphoma

Abstract

Levels of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of a large series of children with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) were evaluated and analyzed at diagnosis and during chemotherapy treatment in relation with clinical characteristics. CfDNA levels in cHL patients were significantly higher compared with controls (p=0.002). CfDNA at diagnosis was correlated with presence of B symptoms (p=0.027) and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p=0.049). We found that the increasing of plasma cfDNA after first chemotherapy cycle seems to be associated with a worse prognosis (p=0.049). Levels of plasma cfDNA might constitute an interesting non-invasive tool in cHL patients' management.