JUSTIN C.K. DAVIS, M.D.: Hi. My name is Dr. Justin Davis, and today I would like to tell you a little bit about lymphoma. Lymphoma is a kind of cancer that involves cells of the immune system, specifically cells called lymphocytes which live in the lymph organs such as the lymph glands, the bone marrow, and spleen. Lymphocytes can be further divided into two types of cells, the T-lymphocytes which help to fight infection and control the immune system, and the B-lymphocytes. Lymphocytes can be divided into two major types of lymphocytes, the T-lymphocytes and the B-lymphocytes. T-lymphocytes are the kind of cells that help to prevent and kill infections and control the immune system. B-lymphocytes are usually responsible for producing and making antibodies in the immune system. Now most kinds of lymphoma will occur in older adults but there are a few exceptions, some of those exceptions are Burkitt's lymphoma and also Hodgkin's lymphoma but we will talk about those subjects separately. What are the symptoms when you do have lymphoma? They can be very vague as you have lymph organs throughout your body, but typically it will first start with swelling of the lymph glands or lymph nodes often in the neck. This may also be associated with symptoms of fatigue, chills, unexplained fevers, and there is a variety of other symptoms that may occur. Eventually, you may even develop tumors when enough cancerous lymphocytes aggregate in a particular area. The treatment depends upon exactly what kind of lymphoma you have, where it is located, and how many organs it affects. Treatment of lymphoma depends upon the stage of the disease, where it is located, the age of the person who has it, and specifically what kind of lymphoma there is. There are approximately 35 different kinds of lymphoma and each of these requires a little bit different treatment. Usually treatment may involve a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and sometimes surgery to remove any kinds of tumors that have formed. Also sometimes it may be necessary to perform stem cell transplants, which is when healthy cells are harvested and eventually will replace the killed cells or the cancerous cells. What can you do to prevent lymphoma? Well we do not know precisely what causes lymphoma. Again, most people that get lymphoma will be older adults but probably there is a number of things that may help to prevent
lymphoma or any kind of cancer. These are having a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle and also avoiding certain kinds of toxins such as cigarette smoke, excessive alcohol intake, and all kinds of radioactive or poisonous substances, such as certain kinds of pesticides. If you think that you may have symptoms consistent with lymphoma such as unexplained fever, night sweats, fatigue, or you are having enlarged lymph nodes that are not going away, or any kind of mass in the neck or another part of the body, it may not be lymphoma but it is very important that you let a doctor know and get diagnosis and treatment right away.
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