Scientists have identified a new type of deadly intestinal cancer that is particularly common in Asian countries including China and Malaysia.
An international research team led by scientists from Singapore, also developed a new diagnostic test to accurately identify patients suffering from the intestinal lymphoma.
The study is the largest of this lymphoma type, involving 60 cases from centres in Singapore and around Asia, including South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, China and Malaysia.
The study was conducted by the Singapore Lymphoma Study Group at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS).
The disease, almost unheard of before 2008, has been classified as an alternative type of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL Type I), a disease common in Caucasians and associated with coeliac disease.
"We discovered that the intestinal lymphoma commonly seen in Asian patients has no links to coeliac disease or EATL Type I found in Caucasians," said associate professor Tan Soo Yong, Senior Consultant, Department of Pathology at SGH, and first author of the study.
"Instead, we discovered that the pathology of this disease is very different and most likely originates from a unique epithelial cell type found in the intestine, making it a completely different disease type," Yong said.
"We, therefore, propose to re-classify the disease, currently labelled EATL Type II, as 'Epitheliotropic Intestinal T-cell Lymphoma' (EITL)," added associate professor Tan, who is also Director of the SingHealth Tissue Repository.
In addition, the team has identified a novel biomarker, known as MATK, and developed a diagnostic test that enables clinicians to accurately diagnose patients suffering from this type of lymphoma.
"Our research has an immediate impact on the care we can provide to patients with this rare but very aggressive intestinal lymphoma," said associate professor Lim Soon Thye, Deputy Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Medical Oncology, NCCS.
"With an accurate diagnosis, we can treat our patients better and improve overall survival," Thye said in a statement.
The average overall survival observed by the researchers was only seven months.
The findings were published in journal Leukemia.
