Meet Dr. Harris Naina
Bone Marrow Transplant Specialist
Until a few years ago, little was known about lymphoma, a type of blood cancer found in the lymph nodes. But thanks to efforts like genomic sequencing, rapid progress in understanding the disease has been made, and, in some cases, lymphoma now can be cured.
We can help each lymphoma patient in different ways.”
It's the chance to cure patients that appeals to UT Southwestern Medical Center's Harris Naina, M.D., a specialist in treating lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). While some lymphomas can be life-threatening, many are not.
“Many cases can either be treated successfully or don’t require treatment until years after they’re diagnosed,” Dr. Naina says.
Because lymphomas and CLL can manifest in so many diverse ways, it takes the expertise of Dr. Naina and the other members of the bone marrow transplant team at UT Southwestern to find the differences.
All lymphoma patients at UT Southwestern receive personalized treatment to best understand the nature of their disease.
“These are never uniform diseases,” says Dr. Naina. “Under the microscope, they’re all different – and patients are all different – so our evaluation and treatment can and does vary.”
For example, some leukemias can grow very quickly due to a chromosome defect in the cancer cells. Dr. Naina looks for genetic defects in the cancer cells of leukemia patients before he decides on a course of treatment.
“Because every patient has a unique genetic defect, our recommendations are different for each one,” he says.
UT Southwestern’s diverse patient population gives Dr. Naina and his colleagues special expertise and experience in managing complex and rare types of lymphoma.
And patients who take part in UT Southwestern’s clinical trials can access new medications not yet available elsewhere to people with hematologic malignancies such as lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
“It’s an evolving, rapidly growing field in which therapies are always improving, and there are a number of new medications coming out,” says Dr. Naina.