Cancer Facts Lymphoma
Thursday, February 08, 2007
The American Cancer Socity has published in its journal some facts about Lymohoma, a form of cancer. Lets have a look over this.
New Cases: An estimated 66,670 new cases of lymphoma occured in 2006, including 7,800 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma and 58,870 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Since the early 1970s, incidence rates for NHL have nearly doubled, in part because of AIDS-related NHL. More recently, increasing incidence is confined to women. Overall, incidence rates for Hodgkin lymphoma have stabilized over the past 20 years.
Deaths: An estimated 20,330 deaths will occur in 2006 (Hodgkin lymphoma, 1,490; non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 18,840).
Signs and Symptoms: Symptoms may include enlarged lymph nodes, itching, nights sweats, fatigue, weight loss and intermittent fever.
Risk Factor: A variety of risk factors have been identified, most of them associated with severely reduced immune function, but the causes of the majority risk is elevated in persons with organ transplants who receive immune suppressants to prevent transplant rejection, in people with auto-immune conditions, and in people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus-I (HTLV-I), and probably hepatitis C virus (HCV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes Burkett and some non-Hodgkin lymphomas and may be related to other lymphomas. H-pylori infection increases the risk of gastric lymphoma. Occupational exposures to herbicides, chlorinated organic compounds, and certain other chemicals appear to increase risk. A family history of lymphoma is linked to higher risk.
Treatment: Hodgkin lymphoma: Chemotherapy alone or with radiation is useful for most patients. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Patients may be treated with radiation, chemotherapy or with chemotherapy plus radiation, depending on the specific type and stage of the disease. Highly specific monoclonal antibodies (such as rituximab, Rituxan®) directed at lymphoma cells are used fro initial treatment and recurrence of some type of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. High-does chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation or low-does, chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation or low-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation (called non-myeloablative) are options if non-Hodgkin lymphoma persists or recurs after standard treatment.
Survival: Survival varies widely by cell type and stage of disease. The 1-year relative survival for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 93% and 78%, respectively; the 5-year survival is 85% and 60%. Ten years after diagnosis, survival for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma declines to 80% and 49%, respectively.
New Cases: An estimated 66,670 new cases of lymphoma occured in 2006, including 7,800 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma and 58,870 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Since the early 1970s, incidence rates for NHL have nearly doubled, in part because of AIDS-related NHL. More recently, increasing incidence is confined to women. Overall, incidence rates for Hodgkin lymphoma have stabilized over the past 20 years.
Deaths: An estimated 20,330 deaths will occur in 2006 (Hodgkin lymphoma, 1,490; non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 18,840).
Signs and Symptoms: Symptoms may include enlarged lymph nodes, itching, nights sweats, fatigue, weight loss and intermittent fever.
Risk Factor: A variety of risk factors have been identified, most of them associated with severely reduced immune function, but the causes of the majority risk is elevated in persons with organ transplants who receive immune suppressants to prevent transplant rejection, in people with auto-immune conditions, and in people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus-I (HTLV-I), and probably hepatitis C virus (HCV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes Burkett and some non-Hodgkin lymphomas and may be related to other lymphomas. H-pylori infection increases the risk of gastric lymphoma. Occupational exposures to herbicides, chlorinated organic compounds, and certain other chemicals appear to increase risk. A family history of lymphoma is linked to higher risk.
Treatment: Hodgkin lymphoma: Chemotherapy alone or with radiation is useful for most patients. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Patients may be treated with radiation, chemotherapy or with chemotherapy plus radiation, depending on the specific type and stage of the disease. Highly specific monoclonal antibodies (such as rituximab, Rituxan®) directed at lymphoma cells are used fro initial treatment and recurrence of some type of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. High-does chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation or low-does, chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation or low-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation (called non-myeloablative) are options if non-Hodgkin lymphoma persists or recurs after standard treatment.
Survival: Survival varies widely by cell type and stage of disease. The 1-year relative survival for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 93% and 78%, respectively; the 5-year survival is 85% and 60%. Ten years after diagnosis, survival for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma declines to 80% and 49%, respectively.
