Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Treatment
Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a potentially deadly disease that can strike anyone with little to no warning. One of the most drastic factors of this disease is its inability to be normally detected; Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma leaves few symptoms, and merely having swollen lymph nodes is the most significantly noticeable symptom. To that end, it can be very difficult to discover that you have the disease.
When it comes to treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, there are several options available. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the different types of care that doctors employ when trying to help a patient to get their Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma problem into remission.
Anti-Cancer Agents
Since Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is present when malignant cancer cells are present in the lymphatic system, anti-cancer agents need to be used in order to get the disease back under control. There are basically four different types of treatment available for those who want to undergo treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: they are, in no particular order, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, biologic therapy, and the ‘watch and wait’ approach.
Watching and Waiting
The ‘watch and wait’ approach is employed when doctors feel that the cancer may not cause a significant problem to a person’s health; they may come to this decision based on how hard it would be to remove the cancer, and the possible risks of performing therapy as opposed to letting the patient’s condition to remain present and closely monitoring it to note any change.
Radiation
Radiation therapy is one of the most commonly used approaches for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; using x-rays or an alternative form of radiation, doctors attack the cancerous cells present in the patient’s body through either externally exposing the patient to the waves, or using a radiation ‘seed’ directly injected into the cancerous cells to damage them.
Chemo
Chemotherapy is another approach that has been shown to be effective in attacking Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; through the use of drugs, the patient’s cancer’s growth is stopped either by killing the cancerous cells or not allowing them to divide. It can be deployed via an oral medication or a direct injection into the area that needs to be treated.
Biological
Last, but not least, comes biological therapy. The biological therapy approach is used when doctors feel that the best bet for the patient would be for their immune system to fight against the cancer. Doctors give the patients the means of getting their immune system as healthy as possible in the hopes that it will repel the cancer.
While the methods that we have of fighting Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are good, they are not good enough to provide a complete solution. To that end, there are several different treatments in the works that will hopefully help us in the fight against lymphoma in the future. One notable treatment that is undergoing testing right now is the use of vaccine therapy. Through showing the body exactly how to fight off a small amount of lymphoma cancer cells, doctors hope to teach the body how to attack the main cancer’s cells.
Another approach that is undergoing testing is the use of bone marrow or stem cells coupled with chemotherapy. This method could prove to be very efficient; they plan on removing stem cells from the patient prior to a major dose of chemotherapy. After the chemotherapy has done its work, the doctors will reinject the stem cells into the patient’s body to help it build back up after the chemotherapy. With the advent of these types of treatment available, it’s good to see that we maybe we winning in the fight against lymphoma.