Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Evan W. Newell, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, USA
- Second opponent: Professor Thomas Stauffer Larsen, University of Southern Denmark
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Marit Inngjerdingen, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Associate Professor Asbjørn Otto Christophersen, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Karl-Johan Malmberg, University of Oslo
Summary
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoma subtype and shows large variation in outcome. Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is less common and highly curable, but treatment may cause significant long-term side effects.
This thesis aimed to identify new prognostic markers that may aid treatment stratification for improvement of survival with least possible side effects.
In DLBCL, peripheral blood protein analysis identified a cluster of patients with particularly poor outcome. The highly inflammatory protein signature of these patients was associated with expansion of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells and activation of T cells. The Systemic Protein Deviation (SPD) score was developed to allow identification of these patients through assessment of only four proteins, and this was validated in a separate patient cohort.
The peripheral blood protein profile of HL patients differed from that of DLBCL. In HL, the combination of high levels of two proteins, placental growth factor (PGF) and TNF-related weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK), was associated with progression-free survival.
Recent advances in cytometry technology have increased the complexity of bioinformatical analysis. This thesis provides a new bioinformatical tool, MetaGate, that allows integration of cytometry data with complex meta data for visualization and statistical analysis. MetaGate analysis of peripheral blood immune cell repertoires in DLBCL patients revealed large deviations from healthy controls and cell subsets associated with outcome.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.