The Interdisciplinary Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

The "Interdisciplinary Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL)" was conducted from 1999-2001 by the State Health Registry of Iowa (SHRI), in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and the National Cancer Institute.

I. Background: This study of Cancer and the Environment was designed to examine environmental and other factors that may affect the development of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) in HIV-negative men and women between the ages of 20 and 74. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and four SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) registries. These include: The University of Iowa, study area is the entire state of Iowa; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle WA, study area is King and Snohomish counties around Seattle WA; Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, study area is Macomb, Wayne, and Oakland counties around Detroit MI; and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, study area is Los Angeles county, CA.

II. Description of Disease: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a subgroup of cancers of the lymphatic system. These cancers affect the immune system and alter cells in areas of the body such as the bone marrow, thymus gland, spleen, and lymph nodes. The primary reason for heightened research into the causes of NHL is that it continues to increase significantly while many other major cancers, are modestly declining. The Study of Cancer and the Environment will be the first large study to look at a broad range of potential causes of NHL in the general population.

III. Description of Study: The study is a case-control study where people with the disease (cases) are compared to people who do not (controls) from the same geographic area who fit the same general demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, race, etc.). The cases are people between the ages of 20 and 74 years who are newly diagnosed with NHL and were identified and recruited by the collaborating SEER registries. The controls were identified by the coordinating center using 2 methods: those under 65 yrs of age by random digit dialing (RDD) technique, and those 65 yrs or age and older were recruited from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) database of service recipients. The cases and controls were contacted by the SEER registries for their consent to be in the study, screened and were interviewed in their homes where biological specimens were also collected (e.g., blood or saliva, water, and dust).

IV. Names of research papers and links to these research papers if available.