What is Lymphoma

Need information on what is lymphoma? It is actually a group of cancers, also known as cancers of the lymphatic system. There are 2 main types - Hodgkin and Nonhodgkins lymphoma. It develops in your lymphatic system, particularly in the white blood cells -- also called lymphocytes.



Lymphoma grows particularly and usually in B and T immune cells that are found in the lymph nodes. It is one of the 4 tumor classifications that include carcinoma, sarcoma and leukemia.

The lymphatic system is part of your immune system which is in charge of prevention of the deadly list of human viruses to successfully attack your body.

This type of cancer can affect both children and adult.

Two Main Types of Lymphoma

Hodgkin or HL

Hodgkin disease is less common than Nonhodgkins. It has 2 types. and affects 2 age groups in particular - ages between 15 to 40 and 50 to 70. For more information, see Hodgkins Lymphoma - Hodgkin Disease Causes

Nonhodgkins or NHL

NHL can develop at any age and is more common than HL. It is divided further into grades - low, intermediate and high grades - and subtypes - B cell and T cell lymphoma - depending on the progression and the types of immune cells that are affected.

Related Articles:

Non Hodgkins Lymphoma - Its Symptoms
B Cell Lymphoma and Its Prognosis

How does Hodgkins differ from Non Hodgkin?

The two differ in the particular type of lymphocyte that is involved.

What is lymphoma of the Hodgkins type?

In Hodgkin, a particular type of B cell of your lymphatic tissues is involved. This particular B cell is known as the Reed-Sternberg cell. This lymphocyte is not present in the Non Hodgkins type.

As the Reed-Sternberg grows, it attracts other normal B cells causing your lymph nodes to swell.

The distinction is important because the treatment for each type can be very different.

Can you die from lymphoma?

Some lymphomas are inactive. A person who has an inactive type of lymphoma can live long without treatment.

But there are also lymphomas that are aggressive. They can be fatal. They can cause rapid deterioration of your health and worse, death.

Burkitt type is an example of aggressive lymphoma. Prevention against the aggressive type is extremely important.

A picture of cancerous cells in Burkitt lymphoma

Both HL and NHL have the same signs and symptoms of lymphoma. What is the prognosis for both types? Prognosis depends on the stage the cancerous cells are discovered.

Stages 1 and 2 has an 80% survival rate for at least 10 years with correct diagnosis of the type and the right treatment. If the disease has spread, you get a 5 year survival rate of 60%

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