Lymphoma Health Dictionary

Malignant tumour of the lymphatic system. A rare disorder. May be nodular or diffuse. The onset is encouraged by suppression of the immune system by steroids, especially in organ transplant recipients. Not the same as Hodgkin’s disease. Enlargement of lymph nodes in neck, under arm and groin. Nodes become hot, red, hardened with intense stabbing pains. (Agnus Castus, Echinacea)

Conventional treatment includes surgical extirpation, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and anti-viral drugs. Herbalism has something to offer, especially when immuno-suppression regimes are discontinued. Blood tonics and Lymphatics may stimulate recovery of a depleted immune system and include Echinacea, Goldenseal, Myrrh. Treat as for Hodgkin’s disease.

A type of lymphoma, known as Burkett’s, is usually confined to African children, believed to be of viral causation. See: ANTIVIRALS. Has been effectively treated with Vinchristine, from the plant Vinca rosea.

Treatment by or in liaison with a general medical practitioner. 

Any of a group of cancers in which the cells of lymphoid tissue (found principally in the lymph nodes and the spleen) multiply unchecked. Lymphomas fall into 2 categories. If certain characteristic abnormal cells (Reed–Sternberg cells) are present, the disease is called Hodgkin’s disease. All other forms are known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. (See Burkitt’s lymphoma; Hodgkin’s disease; lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s.)

A malignant neoplasm of lymphoid tissue.

A neoplasia of the lymph tissue, such as Hodgkin’s Disease. Although it is frequently useful to stimulate immunity when a person is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, since the resultant immunosuppression is a major side effect of the treatment, in lymphatic cancer this the POINT of the therapy...let it be.

A malignant tumour of the LYMPH NODES divided histologically and clinically into two types: Hodgkin’s disease, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hodgkin’s disease or lymphadenoma was named after Thomas Hodgkin (1798–1866), a Guy’s Hospital pathologist, who ?rst described the condition.

Hodgkin’s disease The incidence is around four new cases per 100,000 population annually, with slightly more men than women contracting it. The ?rst incidence peak is in age group 20–35 and the second in age group 50–

70. The cause of Hodgkin’s is not known, although it is more common in patients from small families and well-educated backgrounds. The disease is three times more likely to occur in people who have had glandular fever (see MONONUCLEOSIS) but no link with the EPSTEIN BARR VIRUS has been established (see Burkitt’s lymphoma, below)

The disease is characterised histologically by the presence of large malignant lymphoid cells (Reed-Sternberg cells) in the lymph glands.

Clinically the lymph glands are enlarged, rubbery but painless; usually those in the neck or just above the CLAVICLE are affected. Spread is to adjacent lymph glands and in young people a mass of enlarged glands may develop in the MEDIASTINUM. The SPLEEN is affected in about one-third of patients with the disorder. Treatment is either with RADIOTHERAPY, CHEMOTHERAPY or both, depending on when the disease is diagnosed and the nature of the abnormal lymph cells. Cure rates are good, especially if the lymphoma is diagnosed early.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) This varies in its malignancy depending on the nature and activity of the abnormal lymph cells. The disease is hard to classify histologically, so various classi?cation systems have been evolved. High- and low-grade categories are recognised according to the rate of proliferation of abnormal lymph cells. No single causative factor has been identi?ed, although viral and bacterial infections have been linked to NHL, and genetic and immunological factors may be implicated. The incidence is higher than that of Hodgkin’s disease, at 12 new cases per 100,000 population a year, and the median age of diagnosis is 65–70 years. Suppression of the immune system that ocurs in people with HIV infection has been linked with a marked rise in the incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease.

Most patients have painless swelling of one or more groups of lymph nodes in the neck or groin, and the liver and spleen may enlarge. As other organs can also be affected, patients may present with a wide range of symptoms, including fever, itching and weight loss. If NHL occurs in a single group of lymph nodes, radiotherapy is the treatment of choice; more extensive in?ltration of glands will require chemotherapy – and sometimes both types of treatment will be necessary. If these treatments fail, BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT may be carried out. Prognosis is good for low-grade NHL (75 per cent of patients survive ?ve years or more); in more severe types the survival rate is 40–50 per cent for two years.

Another variety of lymphoma is found in children in Africa, sometimes called after Burkitt, the Irish surgeon who ?rst identi?ed it. Burkitt’s lymphoma is a rapidly growing malignant tumour occurring in varying sites, and the Epstein Barr virus has a role in its origin and growth. A non-African variety of Burkitt’s lymphoma is now also recognised. CYTOTOXIC drug therapy is e?ective.

n. cancer of the lymph nodes, including *Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. There is a broad spectrum of malignancy, with prognosis ranging from a few months to many years. The patient usually shows evidence of multiple enlarged lymph nodes and may have constitutional symptoms such as weight loss, fever, and sweating (the so-called ‘B symptoms’). Disease may be widespread, but in some cases is confined to a single area, which may be extranodal (such as the tonsil). Treatment is with drugs such as chlorambucil or combinations of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisolone, sometimes with the addition of doxorubicin and/or bleomycin; response to these drugs is often dramatic. New *targeted agents are used depending on the expression of cell surface molecules, particularly *rituximab against CD20 in diffuse B-cell lymphoma. Localized disease may be treated with radiotherapy followed by drugs. Patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma who do not respond to chemotherapy may be considered for a bone-marrow transplant.