Sharon Winton is CEO of Lymphoma Australia, a member of the Lymphoma Coalition and has been a health consumer representative on a number of consumer stakeholder meetings in Australia and overseas.
Prior to her current role, Sharon worked with a private health insurance company in relationship and strategic management. Previous to this position Sharon was employed in the health and fitness industry as a physical education teacher and Director of a Sport and Recreation Company.
Sharon is extremely passionate about ensuring all Australians have equitable access to information and medicines. Over the last 2 years twelve new treatments have been listed on the PBS for both rare and common subtypes of lymphoma.
At the personal and professional level Sharon has been involved with patients, carers and health professionals after Sharon’s mother, Shirley Winton OAM, became the founding president of Lymphoma Australia in 2004.
Dr Jason Butler is a clinical haematologist with Icon Cancer Centre, and a Senior Staff Haematologist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Dr Butler completed his dual training in clinical and laboratory haematology in 2004 following a research posting at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research investigating the role of bcl-2 in primary resistance in chronic myeloid leukaemia. He also completed a Masters in Medical Science (Clinical Epidemiology) to assist with development of investigator-initiator research studies.
His major clinical interests are in all aspects of malignant haematology, particularly in myeloma and lymphoma, as well as autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. He is the Tumour Stream Lead for myeloma at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, acting as a principal investigator in a number of clinical trials including CAR-T therapy and other novel approaches to management of lymphoma.
Dr Butler is the current chair of the Haematology Reference Committee of eviQ, the Australian-based governance committee establishing consensus guidelines for cancer treatments, and a council member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
Gayle is Secretary of the Board, Lymphoma Australia providing secretarial services including minutes of all meetings and as a member of the Board, participates in decision-making processes, strategic planning and contributes to the initiatives of Lymphoma Australia. Gayle has over 20 years’ experience in both international relations and executive assistance having worked in roles such as Manager, International Relations; Executive Secretary to the Pro Vice Chancellor (Health & Science), Griffith University; and Communications Officer/Personal Assistant at CSIRO; and Deakin University.
Gayle has been with Lymphoma Australia for over 10 years and has a personal family connection with lymphoma. She holds a Graduate Diploma of Applied Science (Information Management) from Deakin University.
To diagnose lymphoma you will need a biopsy. A biopsy is a procedure to remove part, or all of an affected lymph node and/ or a bone marrow sample. The biopsy is then checked by scientists in a laboratory to see if there are changes that help the doctor diagnose lymphoma.
When you have a biopsy, you may have a local or general anaesthetic. This will depend on the type of biopsy and what part of your body it is taken from. There are different types of biopsies and you may need more than one to get the best sample.
Core or fine needle biopsies are taken to remove a sample of swollen lymph node or tumour to check for signs of lymphoma.
Your doctor will usually use a local anaesthetic to numb the area so you don’t feel any pain during the procedure, but you will be awake during this biopsy. They will then put a needle into the swollen lymph node or lump and remove a sample of tissue.
If your swollen lymph node or lump is deep inside your body the biopsy may be done with the help of ultrasound or specialised x-ray (imaging) guidance.
You might have a general anaesthetic for this (which puts you to sleep for a little while). You may also have a few stitches afterwards.
Core needle biopsies take a bigger sample than a fine needle biopsy.
During this procedure, a surgeon will remove the whole lymph node or lump and send it to pathology for testing. You may have a general anaesthetic which will put you to sleep for a little while, so you stay still and feel no pain.
You will have a small wound with a few stitches, and a dressing over the top.
Stitches usually stay in for 7-10 days, but your doctor or nurse will give you instruction on how to care for the dressing, and when to return to have the stitches out.
Excisional node biopsies are more reliable than fine needle or core needle biopsies for diagnosing lymphoma.
Blood tests are taken when trying to diagnose your lymphoma, but also throughout your treatment to make sure your organs are working properly and can cope with our treatment.
Once your doctor gets the results from you blood tests and biopsies they will be able to tell you if you have lymphoma and may also be able to tell you what subtype of lymphoma you have. They will then want to do more tests to stage and grade your lymphoma.
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To understand lymphoma, you need to know a bit about your B-Cell lymphocytes.
B-Cell lymphocytes:
Lymphoma develops when some of your B-cell lymphocytes (B-cells) become cancerous. They grow uncontrollably, are abnormal, and do not die when they should.
When you have lymphoma your cancerous B-cells:
Some lymphomas grow very quickly, which means the cancerous B-cells are multiplying (making new copies of themselves). Other cancerous B-cells may live longer than they should.. B-cells (and many other cells) are designed to live for a purpose. Once they have achieved that purpose, they naturally die to make room for new stronger healthy B-cells.
In some cases, lymphoma develops when the cancerous B-cells just keep living even when they have no purpose. They then take up too much room which can stop your body making new healthy cells.
Please note:
Lymphoma Australia staff are only able to reply to emails sent in English language.
You need healthy T-cells to make CAR T-cells. For this reason, CAR T-cell therapy cannot be used if you have a T-cell lymphoma – yet.
For more information on CAR T-cells and T-cell lymphoma click here.
Special Note: Although your T-cells are removed from your blood for CAR T-cell therapy, most of our T-cells live outside of our blood – in our lymph nodes, thymus, spleen and other organs.
