Lymphatic Cancer effects

 Lymphatic Cancer Treatment Effects:

Lymphoma is the cancer of lymph cancer. Like all cancers, it is the uncontrolled growth of cells in the vicinity of lymph cancer. Lymph cancer can be viewed as stopping points of lymphatic system. Lymphatic system basically carries fighting soldiers to whatever areas of your body whenever the body area is invaded or requires help to fight foreign intruders. The lymphatic system is a network of 'highways' starting from below the chin to the back of the neck, to underneath the armpits and then to the groin area and connects to the spinal cord.

Lymphoma develops as lumps at the node areas, typically behind the neck, armpits and groin areas. Not all lymphomas grow in detectable areas. Once a lump develops careful monitoring is required. Whenever a lump occurs, it can be caused by

1) viral infection, which can be easily cured by a course of antibiotics and usually last only a week or two,
2) Tuberculosis, which detected at early stages can easily be cured, and which will require more specialized medical care and treatment,
3) Cancer, which can only be confirmed by a biopsy. If there are several lumps that have been growing for some time, it is vital to get the lumps checked out by a Hematologist. Hematologists are specialized doctors dealing with blood disorders. Lymphoma is considered as a blood disorder. For other types of cancer, one would go to an oncologist.

Other noticeable signs are cold sweats at night, loss of appetite, drastic weight loss and lethargy. Sometimes these signs do not appear as in my case except for the lumps on base of the neck.
Like many other cancers, lymphomas are quite complicated and have different types and subtypes but generally lymphoma can be divided into two broad categories, namely Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is much more curable and the prognosis is very good.

Conventional treatment applies for Lymphoma - surgery and radiation - if the cancer is fairly isolated typically only in stage 1 (more on staging later). Chemotherapy followed by radiation for cancer that is not so widespread in the body. If the cancer is in a fairly advanced stage as in stage 3 and 4, then a full course of Chemotherapy treatment is required, as was in my case.

Staging in lymphoma is different from other types of cancer. Stage 1 is cancer found on one part in one section of the body either above or below the diaphragm. If the cancer has appeared in more than one place on same side of the diaphragm, then it has gone to stage 2. Stage 3 means the cancer has spread to the abdomen and groin areas above and below the diaphragm. Stage 4 means that the cancer has been detected in the bone marrow. Stage 3 is already considered advanced stage.

Once a biopsy has confirmed that a tumor is cancerous, a CT scan is usually performed to stage the cancer. In lymphomas, a bone marrow tap is usually done to check if the bone marrow carries the cancer as well. CT scans are also performed at regular intervals during Chemotherapy to determine the treatment's efficacy. If the current treatment is not effective, doctors will switch to another Chemotherapy regimen. At the end of the treatment, a final CT scan and PET scan are conducted to confirm absence of cancerous cells. The words "No cancerous cells detected" are the sweetest words one can ask for.

Chemotherapy treatment can last between six to eight months and a month more to recuperate from the onslaught of Chemotherapy. Most people will give up work to focus on the treatment. As in my case, Chemotherapy was once every two weeks. The first week immediately after Chemotherapy is the worst.

Most of the time, I was too weak to keep awake. As time passed, strength returned and by the second week, I could manage a short walk. After that the whole process starts all over again.
Towards the end of the Chemotherapy, the body would have been pretty badly savaged by the Chemo poison. One often lands up feeling very different after Chemotherapy, and it takes months to get back tony normalcy. The speed of recovery from Chemotherapy really depends on one's physical and mental strength.

Chemotherapy, as it is often called - "It is a marathon"

Exercise Situation Cancer Trreatment

Exercise situation Cancer Treatment:

Being diagnosed with any cancer nowadays is not necessarily a death sentence but it is certainly life altering. The drugs and treatment protocols that will be pumped into your body along with biopsies, operations and complications lymphoma cancer take their toll on your body’s ability to muster up the energy that you may have once had for program adherence for a strict exercise routine.

Some people go through several months of staging and grading depending upon the type of lymphoma cancer and their actual diagnosis. You can imagine is quite an interruption to any normalcy their lives might have resembled Pre diagnosis. Then comes the treatment options, the path to take, financial considerations and for some family planning. Obviously fitting in exercise, meditation or walks all seem like luxuries during these times but should be fit in just as urgently as their treatment protocols when possible for strength building and stress relief.

Once chemotherapy has come into play and hospitalizations often become necessary exercise usually takes a back seat. Unfortunately, most hospitals don't have a system to integrate exercise into these patients’ treatment protocols. Even the worst off patients can benefit from mild exercise i.e. walks, relaxation techniques, restorative yoga, chair exercises, light weight lifting, or some form of cardiovascular activity to aid in the reduction in fluid retention and muscle atrophy.

After getting out of the revolving door of multiple hospitalizations the weakness in one’s body is immense not to mention a lot of these patients are sent home with aftercare and are still truly ill and incapable of fending for them. Medical visits continue for many months if not years. For many patients blood building shots like Neupogen and Apogent are common and painful. Regular monitoring of blood levels called CBC's are taken to check the status of the white and red blood cells along with other important cells that are informative to the hematologist monitoring the cancer patients prognosis.

So when, how and what kind of exercise does one partake in? There are cancer exercise classes popping up all over the place. Yoga classes for the cancer survivor, swim classes, movement classes but what about mind body classes that can address the emotional turmoil along with building the body back up at the same time. Strengthen the mind and the body will follow!

A whole new level of fitness practitioner needs to be created for cancer survivors who are faced with an aftermath of side effects from Lymph edema after having lymph nodes removed to blood issues such as neutropenia or anemia, Epstein Barr, Chronic Fatigue, or even Recurrent Meningitis or histories or Encephalitis from insulted immune systems.

Brain story

 Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Brian's Chronicle: A decidedly Curable Cancer:

BRIAN'S STORY

Brian was a 20-year old college basketball star who was in excellent condition and had no history of health problems. He grew up in a tough neighborhood with a single mother who raised him to be a fine young gentleman. He was awarded a basketball scholarship to state college, where he became the league leading scorer during his junior year. When his mother came to visit for a game late in the season, she noticed that Brian's neck appeared much larger on one side than the other. The next day, she convinced him to see the college physician who felt multiple enlarged lymph nodes in his right neck extending from the angle of the jaw down to just above his collarbone. The doctor ordered a CT scan of the neck and chest that confirmed multiple abnormal lymph nodes in the right side of the neck as well as the center of the chest. Brian was referred to a general surgeon who removed one of the larger lymph nodes in his neck during an outpatient surgery. This excision biopsy revealed Hodgkin lymphoma.

Following his diagnosis, Brian was sent for a bone marrow biopsy which was negative. He also underwent a PET/CT scan that confirmed abnormal activity in the right neck and chest in multiple lymphomas cancer nodes. Brian was referred to a medical oncologist who recommended treatment with ABVD chemotherapy. He received 4 cycles which he tolerated very well, with only moderate fatigue. A restaging PET/CT scan revealed no residual abnormal activity. He was seen by a radiation oncologist who recommended low dose involved field radiation therapy (IFRT) after chemotherapy which was delivered over 3 weeks. Other than a mild sore throat, Brian tolerated RT quite well. He was seen every 3-6 months by his medical and radiation oncologist for alternating follow-up visits. Brian has been free of disease for 7 years.

BASICS

Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is much less common than non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), though it may be diagnosed in children as well as the elderly. If the disease is localized, then the 5-year survival is over 90%. Even patients with more advanced HL have a 5-year survival rate of 75-80%

RISKS & CAUSES

People who have history of a first degree relative diagnosed with HL are at a significantly increased risk of developing the disease themselves. In addition, patients who have Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection early in life appear to have an increased risk of HL later in life. There appears to be a correlation with patients of low socioeconomic status also.

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

The vast majority of patients with HL will come to the doctor with the complaint of an enlarged lymph node or multiple lymph nodes that won't go away. Most frequently the node will arise in the neck, but may also be felt in other common lymph node areas including the maxilla (under the arm) and the groin. Doctors should also ask questions regarding unexplained weight loss, fevers, or drenching night sweats, the "B symptoms" that are classic for lymphoma. Although they are only present in a subset of patients, B symptoms tend to predict for more advanced disease. Rarely, patients may present with diffuse itching or flushing of the skin when drinking alcohol as an initial sign of HL.

DIAGNOSIS

Like NHL, the preferred method of biopsy for HL is complete surgical removal of an enlarged lymph node (excision biopsy) whenever feasible and safe. There are multiple subtypes of HL including: nodular sclerosing, mixed cellularity, lymphocyte rich and lymphocyte depleted. Yet another subtype, called nodular lymphocyte predominant HL, appears to be biologically different from the others, but also has an extremely high cure rate.

STAGING

Standard laboratory evaluation should include complete blood count, serum chemistries including kidney and liver function, blood levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), the latter two of which have been shown to predict for more advanced disease when elevated. As with NHL, the Ann Arbor staging system is used. This system is based on the number and sites of involvement in lymph nodes and other organs, as well as the presence or absence of B symptoms. Imaging should include CT of involved areas including neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis. Wherever available, PET/CT is extremely useful for staging, radiation therapy (RT) planning, and assessing response to treatment. Bone marrow biopsies are indicated for patients with advanced disease including those who present with B symptoms. Other factors that may negatively impact outcome include male sex, age older than 45, low serum hemoglobin, high white blood cell count, low albumin, and stage IV disease.

TREATMENT

Like NHL, HL is treated with a combination of chemotherapy drugs. In the case of HL, four drugs are utilized most commonly in the United States: Adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine. The acronym for the combination is ABVD. Treatment of tens of thousands of patients over the past few decades with ABVD has shown consistently excellent results.

Patients with early stage HL generally receive 2-6 cycles of ABVD. Restaging imaging is obtained after 2-4 cycles to guide further treatment. PET restaging is predictive of outcome. The combination of ABVD followed by involved field radiation therapy (IFRT) yields an excellent chance for cure.

Common acute side effects of ABVD include fatigue, nausea (usually well-controlled with medication), mild anorexia, decreased blood counts, and hair loss. Uncommon but serious late side effects following treatment include heart damage from Adriamycin, lung damage from bleomycin, and nerve damage from vinblastine. Chemotherapy does put patients at a slightly increased risk for development of future cancers, most commonly leukemia or NHL.

Since low doses and fairly small treatment areas are currently utilized for IFRT, side affects are much less than decades ago when the doses were higher and treatment areas were larger. Common acute side effects of IFRT include mild fatigue, possible partial alopecia (hair loss), and sore throat or difficulty swallowing, depending on the area treated. There is a risk of pneumonitis (inflammation of the lung) characterized by low-grade fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath with exertion, that occurs classically 1-3 months after RT. The 5-10% of patients who develop lung inflammation usually has resolution of their symptoms within 3-4 weeks after start of steroids. Long-term, despite the low doses and small RT fields, there remains a small risk of developing a radiation-induced cancer years after treatment. Patients should be encouraged to quit smoking prior to RT. Teenage girls and young women who require RT to the chest should begin annual mammogram (and usually breast MRI) screening within 7-10 years following treatment or at age 40, whichever comes first.

Delicacy Lymphoma Cancer

How to Identify and Delicacy Lymphoma Cancer?

The lymph system is a tubular structure branching out to all the parts of the body and is vital to fight infections. Lymph is a colorless fluid that contains white blood cells (lymphocytes) and is carried by the lymph system.

There are various types of lymphoma cancers and hence, answering a question, how to diagnose and treat lymphoma is a great challenge. The most common type of lymphoma cancer and the term that is used interchangeably is Hodgkin’s disease and the rest of the types are known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Diagnosis:

Although, there are several symptoms of lymphoma cancer, but they may be similar to any other illness, making it difficult to suspect the diagnosis of lymphoma.

Some symptoms are:

• Swelling of the lymph nodes
• Fatigue feeling
• Weight loss
• Recurrent fever
• Night sweats

Once a patient experiences symptoms, he/she may consult a physician, who may carry out the diagnostic procedure to confirm the disease. The diagnosis will be based upon:

• Thorough physical examination of the patient
• Inquiry about the complete personal and family history
• Physically examining the lymph nodes for any abnormalities present
• Biopsy test to confirm about the malignancy present in the lymph nodes
• Chest x-ray to verify any enlargement of the lymph nodes in the chest
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) or Computer Tomography (CT) scan
• Ultrasound examination

After the diagnosis is done and the lymphoma cancer is confirmed, then the patient may further undergo a few tests to detect the exact stage of the disease.

Cancer Treatment:

• Radiation Therapy - Powerful x-rays or any such radiations may be used to treat the lymphoma cancer. The radiations are directed to kill the abnormal cancerous cells either by internal or external radiation therapy. However, pregnant women are not eligible for radiation therapy until delivery.

• Chemotherapy - This therapy uses anti-cancer drugs to destroy the malignant cells in the lymph system. The therapy may be administered through mouth, intravenously or placing directly into the cerebrospinal fluid. Although, chemotherapy may be observed in pregnant women, close watch is required to see any danger to the fetus.

• Vaccine Therapy - This is a new treatment technique used to treat lymphoma. This technique aims at strengthening body's immunity to fight the cancerous cells. The medications used are directed to restore the immune system and boost its defense against the malignancies.

• High-dose chemotherapy in combination with stem cell transplant is another treatment option lately being considered. The technique is to replace the destroyed blood-forming stem cells in the patient with the donor stem cells.

Lymphoma cancer is type of cancer that affects the lymph system of the body. There are around 35 and more types of this cancer. Hence, how to diagnose and treat lymphoma cancer is a challenge for medical professionals. Like any other cancer, early detection and prompt treatment are vital.