A&P Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

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Non- Hodgkins Lymphoma Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is cancer that originates in your lymphatic system, which is the disease fighting network throughout your body. With this type of cancer, tumors develop from lymphocytes – a type of white blood cell. This is the most common form of lymphoma. Researchers have found that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is linked with a number of risk factors, but the causes of most lymphomas are unknown. Still, scientists have made a lot of progress in understanding how certain changes in DNA can cause normal lymphocytes to become lymphoma cells. Normal human cells grow and function mainly based on the information contained in each cell’s chromosomes. Human DNA is packaged in 23 pairs of chromosomes, which are long molecules of DNA in each cell. DNA is the chemical that makes up our genes – the instructions for how our cells function. Some genes contain instructions for controlling when cells grow and divide. Certain genes that speed up cell division or help cells live longer are called oncogenes. Others that slow down cell division or cause cells to die at the right time are called tumor suppressor genes. Cancers can be caused by DNA mutations (changes) that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes. DNA changes related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma are usually acquired after birth, rather than being inherited. Acquired changes may result from exposure to radiation, cancer-causing chemicals, or infections, but often these changes occur for no apparent reason. They seem to happen more often as we age, and lymphomas for the most part are a cancer of older people. Translocations are a type of DNA change that can cause non- Hodgkin lymphoma to develop. A translocation means that DNA from one chromosome breaks off and becomes attached to a different chromosome, oncogenes can be turned on or tumor
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