Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma Research Paper

1253 Words6 Pages
Instructor D Coffey Info 1001: Information Systems and Literacy Fall Quarter 2011 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Everyone’s heard of breast cancer, of leukemia, and of prostate cancer, but rarely do you ever hear about a cancer called Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the immune system’s main defense, the lymphatic system. Although we hear more about the others, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is slowly on the rise, rising 75% in 20 years. Everyone has had one of those mornings they feel a little run down and their lymph nodes are swollen on the side of their neck, using its army of red and white blood cells to help fight off the virus and get them back to feeling normal. That’s your Lymphatic system doing its job. What happens when it all…show more content…
You will find little lymphatic routs in your neck; armpits, abdomen, and groin, where you will find them swell in the event of being sick (Patlak 20). (Fig. 1) The lymphatic system not only has to do with lymph nodes, it also has to do with mucous membranes in your respiratory, digestive track, and skin. Lymphocytes also flow through the blood making the cancer also a blood type. NHL can be classed in three different categories. Low is when the lymphomas are slowly growing tumors and carrier can go sometimes 10 years without treatment, however when treated the cancer usually will reoccur within five years of remission (Gellene 10). Remission is the time the cancer is “sleeping” or non-active. The intermediate-grade and high grade lymphomas are very fast growing tumors that will end in fatality if not treated within a year or two of diagnosis. The better prognosis of a remission is if the cancer is only in one lymph node, the tumors are no more than 10 centimeters, no systemic symptoms, and the younger you are, the better the outcome (Patlak 21). Like all cancers, there are stages of the cancer severity from 1, where only a small part of the body has it, to stage 4 where the majority, if not all, of your body is affected by the cancer, and stage 5,…show more content…
Treatment is based on the stage of NHL and the patient’s age and general health (Lowry 30). The most frequently used is Chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy for NHL is most always a combination of different drugs such as, cyclophosphamide, which is injected into a muscle or vein, doxorubicin hydrochloride, vincristine, and prednisone, an anti-inflammatory drug. Chemotherapy is used to kill off rapidly dividing cancer cells. Even though Chemotherapy is used to kill all the cancer’s cells, it also kills the red and white cells in process, giving side effects like, bleeding (nose bleeds) , hair loss, and vomiting (Patlak 21). In cases of only having a small stage of NHL or when Chemotherapy is out of the picture due to the damage Chemo does to the heart, Radiation therapy is a second choice. In some cases, however, both Chemo and Radiation therapy is used simultaneously. Radiation therapy is a high energy x-ray that is used to damage cancer cells and stop them from growing. With NHL doctors often not only aim the radiation to the one site but to the other lymph nodes in the region to make sure the cancer is not hiding in another node. Unfortunately side effects of both if used in the pelvic region can lead to sterility and due to the treatment for NHL, the treatment can be a cause of other cancers in the patient such as lung and brain cancer. When a patient has a poor

More about Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma Research Paper

Open Document