Is thymus and activation-regulated chemokine a forgotten diagnostic and minimal residual disease marker in classical Hodgkin lymphoma?

Summary Objective The objective of this paper is to elucidate the role of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) as a marker of treatment response in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). Background Most patients diagnosed with cHL can be cured today but about 20–30% still experience refractoriness/relapse. Positron emission tomography (PET) has been shown to not be the optimal tool, since 15–20% of patients relapse despite negative PET. There is an unmet need for new markers to predict response to treatment as early as possible and for surveillance of patients after completion of treatment to allow prompt intervention in case of signs of evolving relapse. Methods Literature regarding the role of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) in cHL was searched and 13 studies between 2005 and 2020 with a total of 1433 patients were identified and reviewed. Conclusion Reviewed studies suggest that TARC is one of the most promising markers, which can be used to improve treatment outcome in cHL.