Their study, "CDK9/CYCLIN T1 expression during normal lymphoid
differentiation and malignant transformation," appears in the
Journal of Pathology (Volume 203, Issue 4). Lymphomas are
generally difficult to diagnose since no single test currently
exists to sufficiently establish their presence. Clinical
practice often revolves around a pathologist looking for changes
in normal lymph node architecture and cell characteristics
through a series of tests, such as blood tests, x-rays,
computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and bone marrow biopsy. "There are many types and subtypes
of lymphoma, some of which are easy to detect, but many that are
very difficult to identify," says Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D.,
director of the Sbarro Institute at Temple and one of the
study's principal investigators. The researchers found that by
taking a sample of blood and doing immunohistochemical analysis
for the expression of CDK9 and CYCLIN T1, they were able to
accurately pinpoint the type of lymph