The most common non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment is chemotherapy, although there are several others which may be better suited for some patients. These include radiation, immunotherapy, radioimmunotherapy, surgery, and bone marrow transplant. Treatments may be used alone or in combination with one another to improve results.
Patients are all individuals, so the best type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment may vary from person to person. Doctors may choose a therapy based on the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Chemotherapy is often the first line of defense. Sometimes very high doses of medication are needed. This usually destroys the immune system or most of the immune system, so a bone marrow transplant may be needed in conjunction with chemo in very aggressive cancers.
Surgery is another non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment option that may be used if there is a tumor present. Radiation is another common treatment option. This uses high beams of radio waves to target and destroy cancer cells in a particular part of the body. Patients with early stage cancers may use this approach, or doctors may decide to wait and see if the cancer grows since small or early cancers often do not respond well to treatment.
Immunotherapy and radioimmunotherapy are non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment options which use the body’s own immune system to fight off cancer cells. This often causes fewer side effects than other methods, but the latter treatment is newly implemented in many countries, so its effectiveness may be questionable until further studies are done. Radioimmunotherapy uses radioactive isotopes in combination with the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. This has some benefits over chemotherapy and radiation, primarily that it can target cancer cells, while the others kill all cells.
The non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment plan that is right for each patient should be discussed by him or her and the doctor offering treatment. A combination of therapies may be used for cancers that have spread or that are growing very quickly. Other less conventional therapies may also be used, such as vitamin therapy and ozone therapy. These may not be available everywhere, but are something to consider if other methods are not working as well as desired.
