Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas Treatment

Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas Treatment Abroad

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (which may be referred to as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, NHL, or just lymphoma) is a type of cancer that starts in cells called lymphocytes. These cells are part of the body's immune system and are contained in the lymph nodes and other lymphoid tissues, like the spleen, thymus, adenoid and tonsils, digestive tract and bone marrow.

Lymphomas sometimes start from bone marrow lymphocytes and other types of cancer like lung or colon cancers, for example can spread to lymph tissue such as the lymph nodes, but they are not defined as lymphomas, as the cancer didn't generate in lymph nodes. The main types of lymphomas known so far are: Hodgkin lymphoma (also known as Hodgkin disease), which is named after Dr. Thomas Hodgkin, who first described it, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The main difference between these two types of lymphoma is in the specific lymphocyte each involves and the different way in se behave, reproduce, and respond to therapies in a total different way. The difference between these two can be defined from a doctors after a microscope evaluation. Doctors found that there are several risk factors that can contribute for a person to develop lymphoma. Some of them can be changed like smoking, eating in a healthy way, unfortunately others can't. Age is considered as a strong risk factor as most cases are usually occurring in people in their 60s. However, some types of lymphoma can also happen in younger people.

Another risk factor could be the gender, as non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more frequent in men than women. Race, ethnicity, and geography are very strong factors too as researchers found out that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more frequent in the developed countries, with the United States and Europe having the highest rates of this disease. Some researches suggested that some chemical substances like benzene and herbicides, as well as a former chemotherapy for another cancer disease, can inase the chances of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The exposure to radioactive substances can influence the chance of getting the disease, this includes radiotherapy if used to treat another form of cancer. Finally, immune system deficiency, long-term infections (chlamydia, HIV, epatitis C), and autoimmune diseases (like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Sjogren disease and others, are considered as factors linked with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The symptoms for non-Hodgkin lymphoma are: anemia, swollen lymph nodes, enlarged abdomen, chest pain and heavy pressure on it, cough, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. These symptoms can vary considerably depending to where the lymphoma has started.

Which Non-Hodgkin lymphoma treatments are available abroad?

Once the disease has been diagnosed and the doctor has evaluated the extent of it, the main treatments that are usually suggested to the patient are: Radiotherapy , which can be performed either alone or in combination with Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy . Other treatments like Targeted therapy and clinical trials, can be evaluable options too, it depends according to the patient's needs.,