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Lymphoma

What is Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma?

Summary & Participants

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the sixth most frequent cancer. It affects the cells of the immune system that should be protecting the body against disease. Listen to experts discuss the ABCs of NHL.

Medically Reviewed On: June 11, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: While many people are familiar with the topics of breast and lung cancer, not quite so well known is non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. Yet this disease is the sixth most common cause of cancer deaths.

JOHN LEONARD, MD: In lymphoma, there are at least 20 different types of lymphomas. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a tumor of the lymph cells, and the lymph cells make up the immune system. The cells of the immune system typically have a job to do to fight infections, and in lymphoma the switches that regulate the cell's growth are broken, and the cells accumulate. They may make a lump, or they may involve or infiltrate one of the organs and cause a problem that leads to the diagnosis of lymphoma.

ANNOUNCER: Simply put, NHL is a cancer of the very system that is supposed to protect us against disease.

RONALD LEVY, MD: The normal immune system is built on a collection of special cells in the body that stay in the lymph nodes or in the spleen or in the bone marrow or in the blood. And each one of them has a slightly different way of recognizing foreign invaders, and so they make a response by making things that kill the foreign invader. NHL is coming from one of these cells. This one cell goes haywire and develops a problem and doesn't know how to stop growing. And it grows into what we call a clone of cells, making many more of the same from that original one cell that grows too far and too fast and spreads around the body and crowds out the other cells in the body.

ANNOUNCER: It's important that patients recognize the symptoms.

JOHN LEONARD, MD: One of the sites that lymphoma can involve are the lymph nodes or the glands, typically felt in the neck, under the arms and in the groin. And so often lymphomas will present to the patient with a lump in one of those areas. And if that lump is causing pain or at a large size, that may be a reason to treat the patient. Other symptoms can include fever, weight loss, fatigue.

ANNOUNCER: The nature of each person's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a key issue in its outlook.

JOHN LEONARD, MD: We have two very broad categories, one being the indolent type of lymphomas, another being the aggressive type of lymphomas. And the aggressive lymphomas, the name sounds worse, and in some ways scarier to patients. And the bad parts about aggressive lymphomas are that they do grow more quickly in some ways, and patients do require treatment at the time of diagnosis, in the vast majority of cases.

The good part about the aggressive lymphomas are that we can cure them with chemotherapy a percentage of the time. Even if it does come back in that situation, it can be cured.

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