If you’ve been diagnosed with non-Hodkin’s lymphoma, your doctor can describe your treatment choices and the expected results. You and your doctor can work together to develop a treatment plan that meets your needs.
Your doctor may refer you to a specialist, or you may ask for a referral. Specialists who treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma include hematologist-oncologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. Your doctor may suggest that you choose an oncologist who specializes in the treatment of lymphoma. Often, such doctors are associated with major academic centers. Your health care team may also include an oncology nurse and a registered dietitian.
The choice of lymphoma treatment depends mainly on the following:
If you have indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma without symptoms, you may not need treatment for the cancer right away. The doctor watches your health closely so that treatment can start when you begin to have symptoms. Not getting cancer treatment right away is called active surveillance.
If you have indolent lymphoma with symptoms, you will probably receive chemotherapy and biological therapy. Radiation therapy may be used for people with Stage I or Stage II lymphoma.
If you have aggressive lymphoma, the treatment is usually chemotherapy and biological therapy. Radiation therapy also may be used.
If non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma comes back after treatment, doctors call this a relapse or recurrence. People with a relapse of lymphoma may receive high doses of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or both, followed by a bone marrow transplantation.
People who choose active surveillance put off having cancer treatment until they have symptoms. Doctors sometimes suggest active surveillance for people with indolent lymphoma. People with indolent lymphoma may have problems that require no cancer treatment for a long time. Sometimes the tumor may even shrink for a while without therapy. By putting off treatment, they can avoid the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
If you and your doctor agree that active surveillance is a good idea, the doctor will check you regularly (every three months). You will receive treatment if symptoms occur or get worse.
Some people do not choose active surveillance because they don’t want to worry about having cancer that is left untreated. Those who choose active surveillance but become worried later should discuss their feelings with the doctor.
Chemotherapy for lymphoma uses drugs to kill lymphoma cells. It is called systemic therapy because the drugs travel through the bloodstream. The drugs can reach lymphoma cells in almost all parts of the body.
You may receive chemotherapy by mouth, through a vein or in the space around the spinal cord. Treatment is usually in an outpatient part of the hospital, at the doctor’s office or at home. Some people need to stay in the hospital during treatment.
Chemotherapy is given in cycles. You have a treatment period followed by a rest period. The length of the rest period and the number of treatment cycles depend on the stage of your disease and on the anticancer drugs used.
If you have lymphoma in the stomach caused by H. pylori infection, your doctor may treat this lymphoma with antibiotics. After the drug cures the infection, the lymphoma also may go away.
People with certain types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma may have biological therapy. This type of treatment helps the immune system fight cancer.
Monoclonal antibodies are the type of biological therapy used for lymphoma. They are proteins made in the lab that can bind to cancer cells. They help the immune system kill lymphoma cells. People receive this treatment through a vein at the doctor’s office, clinic or hospital.
One of the most recent advances in lymphoma treatment is CAR-T Therapy. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy uses the patient's own immune cells to fight cancer and is FDA approved for lymphoma.
Radiation Therapy for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) uses high-energy rays to kill lymphoma cells. It can shrink tumors and help control pain.
Two types of radiation therapy are used for people with lymphoma:
If lymphoma returns after treatment, you may receive a bone marrow transplant. A transplant of your own blood-forming cells allows you to be treated with high doses of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or both to kill the lymphoma cells in the bone marrow. However, this also kills the healthy cells.
After you receive a high-dose treatment, healthy blood-forming cells are given back to you through a flexible tube placed in a large vein in your neck or chest area. New blood cells develop from the transplanted cells. These cells may come from your own body or from a donor: