One of the diseases that early diagnosis saves lives is lymphoma, that is, lymph cancer... This cancer is manifested by the rapid growth of lymph nodes in areas such as the head, neck, armpits, and groin. Lymph cancer, which causes various symptoms, most often occurs with general symptoms such as fever, sweating, weakness, and itching. So, what is lymph cancer? What are the symptoms of lymph cancer? What are the causes of lymph cancer? Is there a cure for lymph cancer? To which patients is bone marrow transplantation performed? What is the success rate in the treatment of lymph cancer in the last stage? Is it possible to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy? Yeditepe University Oncology Specialist answered the questions about lymph cancer.

Lymphoma is one of the treatable diseases... Experts say they treat lymphomas caught in the early stages in a shorter time and with a greater success rate. In order to detect the disease at an early stage, it is useful to consider the symptoms of the disease.

Blood consists mainly of red spheres, blood spheres, and white spheres. Lymphoma, that is, lymph cancer, occurs as a result of the increase in the growth rate of a subgroup of white spheres called lymphocytes, and the prolongation and immortality of their occurrence. In short, it is a type of tumor originating from lymph cells. Lymphomas are examined in two main groups Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The course of Hodgkin's lymphoma is better than the other and is also called Hodgkin's disease. Both groups have many subgroups.

What are the Symptoms of Lymph  Cancer?

Noting that lymph cancer is manifested by the rapid growth of lymph nodes in areas such as the head, neck, armpits, and groin, our specialist stated: ‘It can enlarge the liver and spleen, which sometimes leads to early saturation complaints. Often the patient cannot understand this, it is revealed by imaging methods. If lymphoma cells hold the bone marrow, it can disrupt the production of white blood cells, red blood cells, and blood platelets there. Conditions such as anemia, bleeding that occurs easily in the body, and frequent and severe infectious diseases can be encountered. In lymphomas, general symptoms such as fever, sweating, fatigue, and itching can also be seen. '

How is the Staging of the Disease Performed?

When lymphoma is diagnosed, the whole body is scanned with various imaging examinations. It is determined which lymph node regions the disease involves. Apart from the lymph nodes, it is checked whether it is involved in organs such as the liver, lungs, and brain. Bone marrow biopsy is performed, and it is evaluated whether there is lymphoma cell accumulation in the bone marrow. Cases with organ involvement and bone marrow involvement are stage IV cases. However, our Oncologist warns here; some of my patients think that death in the fourth stage is inevitable, and there is no cure. Early-stage lymphomas can indeed be treated with a greater success rate with shorter-term treatments. However, fourth-stage lymphoma can also be a complete cure. Among general cancers, the highest success rates are achieved in lymphomas. Sometimes an early-stage lymphoma resists treatment due to tumor-related factors, while a fourth-stage lymphoma can heal quickly.

What Are the Causes of Lymph Cancer?

The causes of lymph cancers are roughly similar to those of other organ cancers. It is known that an average of 120000 errors occur in the bases in our chromosome sequence during each cell proliferation. DNA repair enzymes correct some of these errors, but some escape the repair mechanisms. We call these mistakes mutations. Some chemicals, and physical causes such as radiation, increase the number of errors. However, even when there is no reason, mistakes can occur during cell proliferation. In short, it is not difficult to understand the causes of lymphoma and other organ cancers. The real question is why not everyone has cancer. If so, many errors occur in each cell proliferation, and there are as many as a quadrillion cells in our body, the number of cancer patients we see is below what we expected. Mutations are a mechanism for organisms to adapt to the changing world and to evolve and survive. Cancer is a price to pay for this advantage.

What are the Treatment Options for Lymph Cancer? For Which Patients Is Bone Marrow Transplantation Suitable?

Treatment of lymphomas varies according to the stage. However, the basis of treatment is intravenous chemotherapy. According to the characteristics of the tumor, which can be detected under a microscope, some drugs known as smart drugs are also used among the public. In limited lymphomas, we try to reduce the number of chemotherapy and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy by applying radiotherapy to the disease area. In the treatment of lymphoma, surgery is not applied except for some very special emergencies. If a patient does not respond to a chemotherapy plan, we move on to another plan. The first treatment plan is called the first row, and the other the second row. When lymphoma cells develop resistance to standard doses of chemotherapy, we can break that resistance and provide healing by increasing the dose of chemotherapy. Therefore, we make patients with recurrent lymphoma after first-line treatment as disease-free as possible after second-line chemotherapy and perform high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Here, bone marrow transplantation is performed as follows: First, the patient's blood stem cells are removed from the surrounding blood by a method called mobilization, then they are collected by a process called apheresis and cooled and stored. We then give the patient doses of chemotherapy that are higher than the doses we normally give. High-dose plans use drugs that have been investigated in previous studies for side effects other than bone marrow damage and have proven to be safe for patients. Such high doses of chemotherapy can completely destroy the tumor. However, in the meantime, healthy blood stem cells in the bone marrow are also damaged. When the blood stem cells previously taken and stored from our patient are given to the patient again, the donated stem cells settle in the bone marrow and begin to produce white blood cells, red blood cells, and blood platelets again. In fact, bone marrow transplantation is a procedure developed to repair the damage caused by high-dose chemotherapy to the bone marrow. In some types of lymphoma, such as lymphoblastic lymphoma, which we know will have a more difficult clinical course, high-dose chemotherapy, and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation are applied to patients whose disease disappears after first-line chemotherapy without waiting for the disease to return.

What is the Success Rate in the Treatment of Lymph Cancer in the Last Stage?

Our Oncology Specialist stated that patients with lymphoma and their relatives may want to know their treatment success rates, stated that they should ask their doctors directly about this information. When lymphoma patients are divided into good, medium, and bad risk groups according to their stages, some blood parameters, and whether they have complaints such as fever, sweating, and weight loss, which we call B symptom, 80-90% in good risk groups and 45-50% in bad risk groups can be fully cured. It is possible to keep patients who cannot be fully cured alive for many years with increasing and diversifying treatments. As is seen, contrary to what is known in society, the cure rate for lymphomas and cancer, in general, is higher than in many other chronic diseases.

What Should a Person Diagnosed With Lymphoma Cancer Pay Attention to?

Our Oncologist advises people diagnosed with lymphoma to ask their doctor their priority questions. Newspaper and internet information can be harmful. Today information can be misused and it has become very difficult for even a doctor to decide outside his/her own field. Over-informing caused confusion, anxiety, insecurity, and incompatibility with treatment. 

What Should Be Considered in Cancer Patient Nutrition?

There is no special diet that is good for lymphoma or any cancer. Consuming sugar does not feed lymphoma. All cancer patients must follow the general rules of healthy living that apply to each individual. These are not smoking, not consuming alcohol, living actively, not getting fat, and eating a balanced diet. If excessive sugar consumption causes obesity, it can trigger chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. However, it is not right to ban sugar on cancer patients. The most common problem encountered in advanced cancer patients is loss of appetite and excessive weight loss (cachexia). It is unethical to condemn patients in this period to diet programs that are difficult to adhere to, even though they do not have scientific data.

What Can be Done About the Common Side Effects of Chemotherapy?

Of course, chemotherapy has some side effects. Some appear immediately during medication, while others appear days or weeks later. Nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, and hair loss are common. All cancer patients are informed about side effects before treatment and their signatures and approvals are obtained. In many centers, brochures describing what to do in which side effects are distributed. I think it would not be useful to explain the management of all side effects here. The specialist doctor who plans the chemotherapy arranges a prescription that describes the drugs that the patient will use at home and the way they will use them according to the most common side effects of the treatment. Nausea relievers, constipation preventers, diarrhea preventers, heartburn preventers, appetizers, or medications that prevent the elevation of uric acid in the blood can be found in these prescriptions. Thanks to these supportive medications, which I have listed in their subgroups, many patients can complete their treatment with no side effects or with mild side effects. In short, patients should follow the recommendations of their doctors and nurses. Despite these precautions, patients who continue to complain should go to their doctors for follow-up. For these complaints, there may be harms of traditional, alternative, or complementary methods applied without the knowledge of the doctor. You must get the right information from your doctor who treated you.

What is the Place of Alternative Medicine in Lymph Cancer?

Patients often ask questions about alternative treatment methods they hear from their neighbors, television, and the internet. Like donkey milk, breast milk, turtle blood, or any herb. Cancer studies are continuing rapidly. Treatments that have proven to be effective and harmless are offered to you. You have to make sure of that. Patients who still want to use such methods should definitely inform their doctors and chemotherapy nurses. Because these methods can interact with chemotherapy drugs and lead to interactions and side effects that can lead to death. It makes me very sad as a person to see that patients waste time with alternative methods when there are proven treatments.

Press Coverage: haberturk.com