Question

My sister has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that has just recurred after 7 years. I would like more information on this.

Answer

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a type of malignancy (cancer) that affects cells involved in the immune system and that mostly reside in the lymph nodes. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is not a single disease but a collection of numerous types of lymphoma with greatly divergent clinical presentations, prognoses, and treatments. The current classification scheme for these includes over 20 sorts. Given this broad spectrum of diseases under the general classification of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a complete answer to your request for information about the significance of a recurrence is not possible.

For those types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma generally referred to as "indolent" (e.g., follicular small cell, low grade), recurrences are expected, and treatment is aimed at relief of symptoms rather than prolongation of life. In contrast, in diffuse B-cell lymphoma (an intermediate grade lymphoma), treatment aimed at cure is feasible. A number of new treatments have recently been developed for several different types of lymphoma and more are being investigated. In summary, the type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is very important to further discuss the likelihood of recurrence. Please see the link below.

Links

• Disease Digest - Lymphomas (Non-Hodgkins)