Lymph cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the structures of the lymphatic system. According to the latest data announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 8,000 people are diagnosed with lymph cancer every year in our country. This disease, also called lymphoma, can be successfully treated if caught in the early period.
What is Lymphoma Disease?
Lymph cancer, or lymphoma, is a cancer of the lymph system that allows the body to fight infections.
Lymph system; lymph nodes consist of lymph fluid and lymph vessels through which this fluid circulates. The spleen, bone marrow, and thymus are also organs connected to the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system ensures that the microorganisms entering the body are filtered by the lymph nodes, thus preventing the spread of these organisms throughout the body. A group of white blood cells called lymphocytes is involved in the recognition and destruction of these microorganisms. Excessive proliferation of these lymphocytes and mass formation in the lymphatic system organs due to various reasons is called lymph cancer or lymphoma.
Lymph cancer; In addition to the lymph nodes called lymph nodes, it can also affect the tonsils, spleen, bone marrow, and thymus organs.
Lymph cancer in general; It is examined in two subgroups as Hodgkin Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). Although Hodgkin lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma are similar to each other, there are some differences between the two groups. While Hodgkin lymphoma has cancerous cells called Reed-Sternberg (RS), these cells are absent in Non-Hodgkin.
Common types of Hodgkin lymphoma:
- Lymphocyte-poor Hodgkin lymphoma,
- Lymphocyte-rich Hodgkin lymphoma,
- Mixed cell Hodgkin lymphoma,
- Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma can be listed as
- Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma.
- B cell lymphoma,
- T-cell lymphoma,
- Burkitt lymphoma,
- Follicular lymphoma,
- Mantle cell lymphoma ,
- Small lymphocytic lymphoma,
- Can be counted as primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma.
What is the Difference Between Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL)?
Hodgkin lymphoma spreads regularly from the lymph nodes of origin to others, whereas Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) it spreads to other lymph nodes more irregularly through the blood. Hodgkin lymphoma has a slow course, with 80-90% complete recovery with combined chemotherapy. In NHL, on the other hand, aggressive (aggressive) types are dangerous, and the probability of recurrence is high despite intensive chemotherapy. Indolent (good prognosis) forms do not require treatment and are followed up frequently.
What are the Symptoms of Lymph Cancer?
Lymph node symptoms may not be noticed in the early period. In lymphoma, enlargement and swelling can be seen in the lymph nodes (glands). swollen lymph nodes; neck, upper part of the chest, under the arm and can be located in the groin.
Early symptoms of lymph cancer are usually nonspecific. The symptoms seen in the patient may be similar to the symptoms seen in other disorders. Conditions that may be a symptom of lymphoma:
· Fever · Fatigue · Night sweats · Bone pain · Itchy rash, itching on the skin · Redness in the skin folds · Abdominal pain · Involuntary weight loss · Shortness of breath · Swelling in the spleen · Cough.
Because the listed symptoms can be seen as common in many diseases, the patient should be evaluated carefully. All necessary tests should be performed on patients with one or more of these symptoms, and lymphoma should be detected at an early stage, if any. Early diagnosis of patients and initiation of appropriate treatment are of great importance in order to obtain satisfactory results.
What Causes Lymph Cancer?
Studies on why lymph cancer develops are still ongoing. Although the causes of lymphoma have not been fully elucidated, the uncontrolled proliferation of cells called lymphocytes forms the basis of the disease. Mutations in the genetic structure of lymphocytes, that is, in their DNA, cause the cell to multiply faster. Again, lymphocytes that have come to the end of their lifespan due to mutations and should die continue to live. As a result of all these, there is an abnormal increase in the number of lymphocyte cells and the increased cells form a mass in the lymphatic system.
Some risk factors for lymph cancer have been defined. These factors may differ in Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma types.
Risk for Hodgkin lymphoma Factors that increase i:
- Age: Patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma are mostly between the ages of 20-30 or older than 55.
- Gender: Men are at greater risk for this type of lymphoma.
- Family history: The risk of developing this disease is increased in people with close relatives with Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Immunodeficiency: People infected with the virus called HIV have a higher risk of developing lymphoma.
- Immunodeficiency: Immunodeficiency due to HIV infection or long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs is a risk factor for NHL.
- Autoimmune Diseases: Celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis NHL is more likely to be seen in people with certain autoimmune diseases such as NHL.
- Gender: While some types of NHL are more common in men, some types are more common in women.
- Infection: Infection due to microorganisms such as Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), Hepatitis C, Helicobacter pylori, HTLV-1 increases the risk of NHL.
- Chemical Substance or Radiation Exposure: Insect or Exposure to chemicals such as herbal medicines or nuclear radiation are also conditions that increase the risk for NHL.
- Obesity: Although obesity is thought to increase the risk of NHL, research on this subject continues.
How Is Life After Treatment?
People who recover from the disease with treatment experience problems such as bone or joint pain, numbness in the hands and feet, tingling, fatigue, and concentration disorders for a while, but these will disappear after a while. The important thing is that there is a constant communication between the physician and the patient. Absolutely no smoking or alcohol use. Since having lymphoma increases the risk of other cancers, it is beneficial to have regular mammography and colonoscopy to screen for other cancers.
How is the Diagnosis and Treatment of Lymphoma?
Physical examination in the diagnosis of lymph cancer is of great importance. The enlarged lymph nodes in the patient are examined, and the size, stiffness, and mobility of the gland are examined. parameters are examined. For the diagnosis of lymphoma, the number of blood cells, especially lymphocytes, can be checked by performing a blood test. Lymph node biopsy is also a method that is frequently used in diagnosing lymph cancer and determining the type of lymph cancer. Imaging methods such as X-ray, MRI, CT can also be used to determine the location of lymph cancer.
One of the most important factors in determining the treatment approach after diagnosing lymphoma is the staging of the cancer. The staging of lymphoma is as follows:
- Stage 1: Cancer is located in a single lymph node or in a limited part of the organ.
- Stage 2: Cancer is in two lymph nodes close to each other or in an organ and lymph nodes near the related organ.
- Stage 3: At this stage, the cancer has spread to many lymph nodes or there is cancerous tissue on both sides of the body.
- Stage 4: Cancer is at this stage; Cancerous tissue in organs and lymph nodes spreads throughout the body and metastasizes to organs such as the lung and liver. is taken. In the treatment of lymphoma depending on all these factors:
- Active Observation: In slow growing lymphoma types, if the lymph cancer does not affect the daily activities of the patient too much, the patient can be followed up with active observation. active observation; Conditions such as deterioration in the general condition of the patient and exacerbation of signs and symptoms in the patient may continue until observed. In the following periods, treatment can be started according to the patient's condition.
- Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy agents can be given intravenously or orally to the patient to kill cancer cells.
- Radiotherapy: High-energy particles can be used to kill cancer cells.
- Bone Marrow Transplantation: The patient's bone marrow, which contains cancerous cells, is suppressed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. By transplanting the bone marrow from a healthy person instead of the suppressed bone marrow, the patient is able to produce healthy blood cells.
- Other Methods: New treatment methods have been developed targeting specific disorders seen in cancerous cells. The drugs given with these methods only act on cancerous cells and cause less side effects.
How Is Lymphoma and PET MR Relation?
PET MR plays an important role in all aspects of lymphoma evaluations because:
- From repeat PET/CT scans Reduces lifetime radiation exposure by eliminating CT radiation received.
- Increases detection accuracy with the addition of diffusion-weighted imaging in MRI.
- Detection of lymphomas with early/low grade or less FDG uptake improves.
Read: 0
