Lymphoma Cancer Treatment
Lymphoma is a type cancer of the lymphatic system. There are many types of cancers that comes under this range, some of which are Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. All of these are however cancers of the lymphatic system and manifest themselves by affecting the immune system. They can be aggressive and cause death in a rapid progression or they are also known to be highly treatable as is the case in Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma or Hodgkin’s disease is one of many types of the lymphoma classifications. It is a cancer of the white blood cells, specifically the lymphocytes and rapidly spreads from one node of the lymphatic system to the next. It is one of the most treatable cancers and is treated using a radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The symptoms of this type of lymphoma include a swelling of the lymph nodes, and enlarged liver and spleen and night sweats. The diagnosis and pronouncement of a case of Hodgkin’s disease is made after a lymph node biopsy. A CT scan, MRI and X rays are not uncommon to check the spread of the disease. The spread of the disease then determines the stage of the disease. After staging is done, the treatment begins with a chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy works by the use of toxic chemicals that kill both good and bad cells but it specifically targets cells that can rapidly divide like cancer cells. Unfortunately, other, regular rapidly dividing cells are also targeted; namely, the red blood cells, hair follicles, and cells of the bone marrow among others. The chemicals used in chemotherapy can sometimes loose their effectiveness if the tumors get resistant. If this occurs then the next step in treatment is radiation therapy.
Radiation therapy, just like chemotherapy, works to destroy fast dividing cells. However, the mechanism is slightly different. When a beam of radiation hits a tumor’s DNA, it ionizes it and thereby destroys it or it ionizes the surrounding water form hydroxyl radicals that damage the DNA. One drawback of radiation therapy lies in the fact that with solid tumors that are big, a state of hypoxia occurs, where the tumor cell is starved of oxygen. Unfortunately, oxygen is required for the radiation therapy to work and this sometimes is where radiation therapy also fails. In lymphomas of the Hodgkin’s variety, the success rate of chemotherapy and radiation therapy is as high as 90 per cent with total remission of the condition.
