About

The ELCCS was set up by EGU in 1998 to investigate possible causes of lymphoma. Environmental and lifestyle exposures such as smoking, alcohol and obesity; a family history of disease and other genetic factors; and preceding illnesses and health events are some of the areas of research we are interested in. As lymphomas are recognized as a group of diseases with varied clinical features, the examination of risk factors by the different lymphoma subtypes is a particular feature of ELCCS.

The study was approved by the UK’s Multi-Regional Ethical Committee and followed standardised methods of data collection. Details of the study design, study documentation and publications can be found elsewhere on the website. To illustrate the data collection process, see the flowchart below.

Following data collection, residential postcodes for the address at ascertainment were linked to small area census data. Diagnostic information was obtained from the Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service (www.hmds.org.uk) in the Yorkshire region; elsewhere, diagnostic data extracted from hospital notes underwent central pathological review. Biological samples were, where possible, taken and stored. The final datasets and numbers available are shown in the following diagram.

Studies of lymphoma similar in design to ELCCS are being conducted in other parts of the world, including in Europe, Australia, and North America. Two collaborative ventures which ELCCS researchers contribute are the Collaborative European action into Environmental, Nutritional and Genetic factors in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (EuroLymph) and the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph). Both projects operate as scientific forums to discuss and develop research into lymphomas. One of their main functions is to facilitate the pooling of study data to increase the amount of information available to investigate possible risk factors; findings from several pooled analyses are available on this website.