A lymph tissue cancer, Hodgkins lymphoma causes an enlargement of the lymph nodes, though patients may also have weakness or shortness of breath. The National Cancer Institute points out that in 2009, doctors diagnosed an estimated 8,510 new cases of Hodgkins lymphoma in the United States. MayoClinic.com notes that when doctors treat Hodgkins lymphoma, they take a patient's cancer stage, overall health and age into consideration.
Chemotherapy
Patients with all stages of Hodgkins lymphoma--which range from I to IV, with stage I being the least severe--receive chemotherapy. The Merck Manuals website explains that with patients who have stage I or II Hodgkins lymphoma, chemotherapy cures more than 80 percent of cases, adding that chemotherapy cures 70 to 80 percent of stage III cases and 50 percent of stage IV cases.
MayoClinic.com points out that doctors use five different chemotherapy regimens which use a combination of drugs. In the MOPP regimen, doctors give patients prednisone, mechlorethamine, procarbazine and vincristine; in the ABVD regimen, patients receive dacarbazine, doxorubicin, vinblastine and bleomycin; the COPP/ABVD regimen includes cyclophosphamide, dacarbazine, vincristine, vinblastine, procarbazine, bleomycin, prednisone and doxorubicin; in the BEACOPP regimen, doctors give patients bleomycin, prednisone, etoposide, procarbazine, doxorubin, vincristine and cyclophosphamide; and the Stanford V regimen uses doxorubicin, prednisone, vinblastine, bleomycin, mechlorethamine, vincristine and etoposide. Patients who receive the Stanford V chemotherapy regimen also receive radiation.
Radiation Therapy
MedlinePlus explains that stage I and stage II Hodgkins lymphoma patients may receive local radiation therapy, in which the doctor targets the radiation at the location of the cancer. A doctor may recommend a combination of chemotherapy and radiation to patients with stage I, II or III. MayoClinic.com adds that radiation therapy is the treatment of choice when the cancer is in one area. If a patient has a return of the cancer after receiving radiation, the doctor will administer chemotherapy.
Transplants
Some Hodgkins lymphoma patients may undergo transplants as part of their treatment. For example, if patients have a return of their cancer, they may undergo a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. With these procedures, the doctor extracts the bone marrow or stem cells from the patient, treats the cells with chemotherapy, then freezes them. The patient then receives chemotherapy and the doctor injects the thawed cells into the patient's veins. MedlinePlus adds that patients may receive a red blood cell or platelet transfusion if they have anemia or a low platelet count.
