Lymphomia cancer - limphoma symptoms (hodgekins disease)

Lymphomia cancer (limphoma) is a very common terminal cancer form in the US with 40-50 thousand new diagnoses of lymphoma established with symptoms of non hodgins or signs of hodgekins disease and other forms of this cancer annually.

Lymphomia (limphoma) is a cancer type often first noticed in the lymphopcytes. It can in other cases originate from within the histiocytes. These are the different types of cells that make up the system called the reticuloendotelial system, a sub-part of the lymphatic system. The cells called lymphocytes can be of many different types which means that the lymphoma cancer can be very different in its appearance. Limphoma cancer types are classified together with the hematological neoplasms.

With modern research, lymphoma in its different forms can now often be cured, or at least halted for a very long time. The important thing is to notice the symptoms in time and start treatment early. As symptoms are often very visible - such as swollen lymph nodes - it has a good rate of recovery. Treatment of lymphoma cancer is usually chemotherapy, in some cases combined with surgery such as removal of a lymph node.

Limphoma cancer - what are the signs, symptoms?

Cancerous cell growth is often seen starting from the lymph nodes in patients of lymphoma cancers. Other cases may be where the cancer starts within the bone marrow and spreads from there, eventually througout the whole lymph system. The lymh system transport the waste products from the body and because of this, it reaches everywhere which is why lymphomia can spread rapidly to almost any part of the body once the cancer has started to spread outside of the first lymph node. It is therefore vital to find the limphoma symptoms early and acto on them in time.

Hotchkins and Non-Hotchkins diseases

The old classification of Hodgkins lymphomas and non Hodgekins lymphomas is still used but being slowly replaced by the more modern classification based on tumor markers. The Hodgekin's lymphomias got their name from dr Thomas Hotchkin, the English doctor first describing the condition.

Non-Hodgekin lymphomas are often abbreviated to NHL. This cancer form appears in the lymph system and it develops typically in one of the two major types of this limphoma; The Hodgkins lymphoma (formerly refered to as Hodgins disease) and the non-Hotchkins lymphomas. Most lymphoma cancers belong to the group of non-Hodgkin lymphomias – these account for almost 80% of all limphomas diagnosed.

What is the difference between Hodgkins and non-Hodgins lymphomas?

The difference can only be established by inspecting the cells under a microscope and it is also often required to stain the cells in order for the structures to be visible. The normal procedure is to test the cells for certain proteins, a procedure called immunohistochemistry.

For Hodgkins lymphomas, most of the samples will show the presence of a the Reed-Sternberg cell. This type of cell is not commonly present in other lymphoma cancers, so the presence indicates a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It may seem like a small difference, but it is an important one as the treatments of these two blood cancer forms will differ greatly.

There are more than twenty different types of cancers in the non-Hodgkin limphoma group, each canser has its own typical characteristics, behavior and treatment.

As new research methods have developed the last 10-20 years, it was soon found that the old Hotchins/non-Hodgins division was a bit too blunt a method to use for classification. For this reason, the WHO introduced a new type of groping a few years ago, called the Revised European American Limphoma method. This is now based on the originating cell type and the classification has 3 broader classes:

B-cell cancer tumors
T-cell canser tumors (including natural killer cell tumors)
Hodgkins limphoma cancer type of lymphomias

Lymphoma symptoms - signs of lymphomia cancer

In many cases the first seen symptoms are those of swelling in the neck or groins, armpits or in the the abdomen where the external lymph nodes are found. These nodes will typically start swelling up first, before the major spreading of the cancer. There can also be the first signs from swelling of internal lymph nodes, located in the stomach or in other places. As with all cancers, it is important to act quickly and see a doctor when the first symptoms of lymphoma are shown, this ensures best possible lymphomia treatment and cure.

Other signs of lymphoma canser symptoms can be:

General loss of appetite
Bloated feeling but without any particular focus
Body aches or feelings of general fatigue
Presence of anemia
Feelings of pain located in bones (diffusely all over), itches together with head aches
Starting to lose weight, there may also be unexpected vomiting or abdominal pains
Night fevers or excessive bed sweating

Different forms of lymphoma cancer

Lymphoma cancers are sometimes seen classified into low, intermediate and high. This is a classification focusing on the type of lymphomia cancer cells that are present and the way these interact with lymph nodes and chromosomes. There can also be lymphomia canser types that will grow with enormous speed, faster than most other types. These fast growing cancers will require a much more aggressive sort of treatment in order to stop the spreading in time. Division of lymphomas into cancer subclasses is often difficult when taking into consideration the vast mumber of lymphocyte cell types that can be present.

Lymphomia cancer - low grade types

Limphomas in the low grade group will typically have a low speed of spreading and may very well allow for a fairly normal life for many years after the diagnose of the lymphoma symptoms. After this period of low activity, it is common to see these lowgrade cancer forms to change mode and move over into a faster growth and thus move over to the next grade.

Limphomas of intermediate type

Cancers belonging to the intermediate lymphoma class will grow rather fast if not treated in time. Treatments of the intermediate cancers are normally chemotherapy or radiotherapy with a 3/4 chance of reaching remission. Medical treatment of these lymphomias can often be considered successful with many patients seen in remission for years without recurrence of the cancer.

Lymphoma cancer classified as high-grade

If a high grade lymphoma is left untreated, it is likely that there will be a very fast growth. These fast-growing limphomas will then need a particularly aggressive treatment in order to stop the growth. With these extreme cases, the remission rate is slightly lower, typically 50 or up to 75%. If remission lasts for a year or more, it is likely that recurrance will never appear. The available treatments for these type of lymphomas are normally aggressive radiation and chemotherapy.

Hodgekins lymphomia cancer (Hotchkins)
Non-Hodgekins limphoma canser
Burkitt's lymphomas cancer
Follicular type of lymphoma
Cutaneous T-Cell limphomas
Gastrical lymphoma
Anaplastic large cells lymphoma

Diagnose and treatment of limphomia cancers

Lymphoma diagnoses can be made with any of these methods:

Investigation of family health history
Looking for lymph node spots with ultrasound
Check kidney and liver functions with blood test
Use a biopsy on the commonly affected internal organs

Classification of cancers based on tumor markers

The modern way of diagnosing lymphomas is by using tumore markers from the lymphocytes (cells in the lymph system). These cells carry different patterns of molecules on their surface, so called CD's or cluster differentiation markers. A lot of the modern research into CD's is focused on their possible use for diagnose of lymphomia cancers. We know around 80% of the existing lymphoma markers today which makes them almost obligagory in any modern lymphomia diagnose. Summary of lymphomia cancer symptoms treatment and hodgekins and hon-hodgins canser forms (hotchkins disease).