Prognostic Model to Predict Post-Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation Outcomes in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

Purpose: Our aim was to capture the biology of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) at the time of relapse and discover novel and robust biomarkers that predict outcomes after autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT). Materials and Methods: We performed digital gene expression profiling on a cohort of 245 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 174 patients with cHL, including 71 with biopsies taken at both primary diagnosis and relapse, to investigate temporal gene expression differences and associations with post-ASCT outcomes. Relapse biopsies from a training cohort of 65 patients were used to build a gene expression-based prognostic model of post-ASCT outcomes (RHL30), and two independent cohorts were used for validation. Results: Gene expression profiling revealed that 24% of patients exhibited poorly correlated expression patterns between their biopsies taken at initial diagnosis and relapse, indicating biologic divergence. Comparative analysis of the prognostic power of gene expression measurements in primary versus relapse specimens demonstrated that the biology captured at the time of relapse contained superior properties for post-ASCT outcome prediction. We developed RHL30, using relapse specimens, which identified a subset of high-risk patients with inferior post-ASCT outcomes in two independent external validation cohorts. The prognostic power of RHL30 was independent of reported clinical prognostic markers (both at initial diagnosis and at relapse) and microenvironmental components as assessed by immunohistochemistry. Conclusion: We have developed and validated a novel clinically applicable prognostic assay that at the time of first relapse identifies patients with unfavorable post-ASCT outcomes. Moving forward, it will be critical to evaluate the clinical use of RHL30 in the context of positron emission tomography-guided response assessment and the evolving cHL treatment landscape

The Use of Innovative Methods with Children from Mixed Parents Living Under Shared Custody Agreements

This paper will draw attention on the identity construction of children from mixed couples (parents from different ethnical backgrounds) who are living under equal shared custody agreements after the separation of their parents. I will seek to understand how they position themselves in reference to both cultural backgrounds in the context where family socialization takes place in two different households. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Belgium with children aged 10 to 13, in the context of the research program “MobileKids: Children in Multi-Local, Post-Separation families” (ERC Starting Grant project under the supervision of Prof. Laura Merla), the paper will focus on innovative and active methods used for an egocentric network analysis: Network map (Hertz, Olivier, 2012) and Socio Spatial Network Game (Schier, 2015). By playing, those methods will allow us to understand the strategies used by the children to navigate between these two households where the norms and values may be different in a multi-local and multi-cultural context. While transnational families and mixed families have been extensively studied in the recent years (Baldassar, Merla 2014; Fresnoza-Flot, 2017), studies focusing on the experience of children living in post separation mixed families have largely been overlooked up to now