Lymphoma

What is Lymphoma?

Lymphoma are cancers that originate in lymphatic tissues. The disease result from an acquired (not inherited) genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell, which becomes abnormal (malignant) and multiplies continuously. The accumulation of malignant cells interferes with the body's production of healthy blood cells and makes the body unable to protect itself against infections. Fifty-eight percent of blood cancers are lymphomas.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma represents a diverse group of cancers, with the distinctions between types based on the characteristics of the cancerous cells. The groups are often classified as indolent or aggressive, low, intermediate and high grade. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a group of diseases and not just one type. Each histologic grouping is diagnosed and treated differently, and each has prognostic factors that categorize it as more or less favorable.

Hodgkin lymphoma is a specialized form of lymphoma and represents about 11 percent of all lymphomas diagnosed each year. Hodgkin lymphoma has characteristics that distinguish it from all other cancers of the lymphatic system: including the presence of an abnormal cell called the Reed-Sternberg cell (a large, malignant cell found in Hodgkin lymphoma tissues), incidence rates higher in adolescents and young adults and cure rates of more than 80 percent.

Lymphomas (Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin) are the third most common cancer in children following leukemia and malignant brain tumors.

Lymphoma Risk Factors

• The bacterium helicobacter pylori is associated with the development of lymphoma in the stomach wall.
• Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have a much higher risk of developing lymphoma.
• Burkitt's lymphoma in Africa is associated with prior infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. The virus may play a role in the development of some lymphomas as well.
• A rural lifestyle and the occupation of farming have been associated with an increased risk of lymphoma.
• Exposure to certain chemicals contained in herbicides and pesticides in such settings are suspected of playing a role, but these specific relationships are still under study.

Lymphoma Early Detection

Some common symptoms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma are listed below. Paying attention to your body and recognizing these symptoms may lead to early detection.

• The most common early symptom of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is painless swelling of the lymph nodes, usually in the neck, armpit, and groin or in the abdomen.
• Other symptoms often include fever, night sweats, excessive tiredness, indigestion and abdominal pain, loss of appetite and bone pain. Symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma include painless swelling of lymph nodes in the neck, armpit or groin, persistent fatigue, recurrent high fever, sweating at night, troublesome itching and weight loss.

Lymphoma Treatment

Treatment approaches for blood-related cancers may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, stem cell or marrow transplantation, or immunotherapy. These treatments are often given as standard care or in a clinical trial. The patient may also seek complementary and alternative therapies.

• Early stage, localized non-Hodgkin lymphoma is sometimes treated with radiation; widespread disease requires chemotherapy or chemotherapy with radiation, depending on the tumor size, cell type and location of the lymphoma.
• Treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma now often includes forms of immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy and sometimes vaccines.