Most types of lymphoma can't be diagnosed by a blood test. However, blood tests can help your medical team find out how lymphoma and its treatment are affecting your body.
Blood tests are not used to diagnose lymphoma, but they can sometimes help determine how advanced the lymphoma is.
Complete blood count (CBC).
This test measures the number of blood cells in a sample, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. A low level of red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets may indicate that the lymphoma is present in the bone marrow and/or blood.
A lymphoma misdiagnosis is especially problematic because your lymphatic system regulates your immune system. There's a good chance a doctor can treat it when caught early. However, a misdiagnosis or a delay in diagnosis means you are missing out on valuable treatment time, which can lead to a rapid spread of cancer.
The number of each type of cell in the blood is often referred to as the “count.” Many of the treatments used for lymphoma can affect your blood counts, as can lymphoma itself. Usually, blood counts return to normal after cancer treatment is complete.
Blood Tests
People with this form of cancer may also have low levels of healthy white blood cells, which fight infection, and low platelet counts, which help the blood to clot. Our doctors may also test the blood for high levels of lactate dehydrogenase, also known as LDH.
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.
Lymphoma that starts outside the lymph nodes is called 'extranodal' lymphoma. Extranodal lymphoma can cause many different symptoms, such as a swollen liver or spleen, a skin rash, or abnormal blood counts. These varied symptoms can make it difficult to diagnose T-cell lymphomas.
In the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy in patients with frequent episodes of tonsillitis, Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease should be taken into account. Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease may convincingly mimic symptoms characteristic of 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.
NHL is a difficult disease to diagnose, therefore you may want to get a second opinion by an experienced hematopathologist before you begin treatment. Some types of NHL can be confused with one other. The appropriate treatment depends on having the correct diagnosis.
Certain areas of skin may also thicken, harden and form plaques that itch and ulcerate. Typically, these plaques develop on the face or buttocks or within skin folds. As a skin lymphoma rash progresses, papules (small bumps) may start to appear.
CT scans can show up swollen (enlarged) lymph nodes in your body. If you had a CT scan to help diagnose Hodgkin lymphoma, you won't need to have another one. But if you were diagnosed by lymph node biopsy alone, you'll have a CT scan to look for enlarged nodes in other parts of your body.
Blood tests aren't used to diagnose HL, but they can help your doctor get a sense of how advanced it is and how well you might tolerate certain treatments. The complete blood count (CBC) is a test that measures the levels of different cells in the blood. People with HL can sometimes have abnormal blood counts.
Lymphomas are one of the common cancers of our immune system. It makes up to almost 5% of all cancers. It can affect both young and older adults. The common symptoms of this disease are persistent fevers, drenching night sweats, unintentional weight loss, and generalized or localized swelling of the lymph nodes.
Increased risk of NHL associated with personal histories of several ADs [such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sjögren syndrome, hemolytic anemia, psoriasis, discoid/systemic lupus erythematosus (DLE/SLE), systemic sclerosis, polyarteritis nodosa, sarcoidosis, Crohn disease, Hashimoto/hypothyroidism, and celiac disease] ...
Some autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus), Sjogren (Sjögren) disease, celiac disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy), and others have been linked with an increased risk of NHL.
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.
The most common type of low grade NHL is follicular lymphoma. For limited disease, you are most likely to have radiotherapy to the affected lymph nodes. This can help control the lymphoma for a long time, and may cure it.
Swollen lymph nodes
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can cause lymph nodes to become enlarged. Enlarged lymph nodes close to the surface of the body (such as on the sides of the neck, in the groin or underarm areas, or above the collar bone), may be seen or felt as lumps under the skin. These are usually not painful.
Overall, the chance that a man will develop NHL in his lifetime is about 1 in 43; for a woman, the risk is about 1 in 53. But each person's risk can be affected by a number of risk factors. NHL can occur at any age.
Both children and adults can develop Hodgkin lymphoma, but it's most common in early adulthood (especially in a person's 20s). The risk of Hodgkin lymphoma rises again in late adulthood (after age 55). Overall, the average age of people when they are diagnosed is 39.