Benign lymphoma, also called pseudolymphoma or benign
Benign Lymphoma Symptoms and Diagnosis
The first symptom is generally painless, swollen lymph nodes, particularly in the neck, chest, and abdomen. Other symptoms including night sweats, fever, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, lack of energy or fatigues, rashes, and lower back pain.
LYMPHOMA, A BENIGN TUMOR REPRESENTING A LYMPH GLAND IN STRUCTURE.
Your medical team are likely to suggest treatment if: your symptoms become difficult to cope with. you develop 'B symptoms' (night sweats, weight loss and fevers) your lymph nodes or spleen start to grow quickly or you develop swollen lymph nodes in new places.
Follicular lymphoma may go away without treatment. The patient is closely watched for signs or symptoms that the disease has come back. Treatment is needed if signs or symptoms occur after the cancer disappeared or after initial cancer treatment.
Low-Grade Lymphoma
These grow so slowly that patients can live for many years mostly without symptoms, although some may experience pain from an enlarged lymph gland. After five to 10 years, low-grade disorders begin to progress rapidly to become aggressive or high-grade and produce more severe symptoms.
Lymphomas are considered to be a treatable form of cancer if detected early. The overall 5-year survival rate for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is 62%, whereas the 5-year survival rate for Hodgkin lymphoma is 92% if detected early.
You should have an urgent referral if you have swollen lymph nodes and your GP can't explain the cause. Your GP will also take into account any other symptoms you might have such as: high temperatures (fevers) night sweats.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma becomes more common as people get older. Unlike most cancers, rates of Hodgkin lymphoma are highest among teens and young adults (ages 15 to 39 years) and again among older adults (ages 75 years or older).
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma
This fast-growing lymphoma accounts for about one third of NHL cases. For this lymphoma, it is typical for lymph nodes to double in size every month, and patients often present within a few months of having noted an enlarged lymph node.
Benign lymphoma can sometimes turn into cancer, although it is not common. The likelihood of a benign lymphoma becoming cancerous depends on where it is located. In the few studies covering benign lymphoma of the tongue or mouth, no participants developed cancer.
Leukemia and lymphoma are easily confused because they're both types of blood cancer. Leukemia usually occurs in bone marrow, while lymphoma originates in the lymphatic system and mainly targets lymph nodes and lymph tissue.
Blood Tests for Lymphoma
Blood tests are essential to accurately diagnosing this complex disease. These tests can show whether you have lymphoma cells or abnormal levels of normal cells: Blood smear: We take a drop of blood and look at it under a microscope.
Common symptoms of having lymphoma include swelling of lymph nodes in your neck, in your armpits or your groin. This is often but not always painless and often could be associated with fevers, or unexplained weight loss, or drenching night sweats, sometimes chills, persistent fatigue.
Patients with low grade lymphoma usually experience little to no symptoms. The first signs of the disease include swollen but painless lymph nodes. Fever, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, bone, abdominal or chest pain, loss of appetite, itching and nausea occur in time.
In these low grade lymphomas, abnormal lymphoplasmacytoid B cells fill up the bone marrow or enlarge the lymph nodes or spleen. Most of these lymphomas are a type called Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia (or immunocytoma).
Lymphoma affects more than 7300 Australians each year, and is the 6th most common cancer in adult men and women in Australia, but can affect people of all ages including children and babies.
Long-term survival with Hodgkin lymphoma is hard to estimate due to conditions like secondary cancers that may occur decades after treatment. However, between 15 years and 30 years after Hodgkin lymphoma treatment, people are more likely to die from an unrelated cause than from Hodgkin lymphoma.
The best way to find lymphoma early is to pay attention to possible signs and symptoms. One of the most common symptoms is enlargement of one or more lymph nodes, causing a lump or bump under the skin which is usually not painful. This is most often on the side of the neck, in the armpit, or in the groin.
Stage 4. Stage 4 is the most advanced stage of lymphoma. Lymphoma that has started in the lymph nodes and spread to at least one body organ outside the lymphatic system (for example, the lungs, liver, bone marrow or solid bones) is advanced lymphoma.
For stage I NHL, the 5-year relative survival rate is more than 86%. For stage II the 5-year relative survival rate is 78%, and for stage III it is more than 72%. For stage IV NHL, the 5-year relative survival rate is almost 64%.
Your practitioner will probably perform a physical exam to check for swollen lymph nodes and any other possible signs of the disease. If your physician thinks your symptoms might be lymphoma, he or she will likely order additional tests and may get a biopsy of a lymph node.
Itching caused by lymphoma can affect: areas of skin near lymph nodes that are affected by lymphoma. patches of skin lymphoma. your lower legs.
Treatment for stage 1 Hodgkin lymphoma is usually 2 to 4 cycles of chemotherapy. You might also have radiotherapy.
The treatment usually lasts for at least 6 months. But sometimes you have treatment once a week instead of once every few weeks. In this case the treatment lasts for 3 or 4 months.