Do you know the symptoms of malignant lymphoma? What are the tests and treatments?

 

Malignant lymphoma is a disease in which lymphocytes in the blood cancer, which mainly occur in lymphatic tissues such as lymph nodes, spleen, and tonsils, as well as in areas other than lymphatic tissues such as the stomach, intestines, thyroid, lungs, liver, skin, bone marrow, and brain. This time, we will explain the symptoms, testing, diagnosis, and treatment of malignant lymphoma.

What is malignant lymphoma?

What kind of disease is malignant lymphoma?

Malignant lymphoma is one of the hematopoietic tumors, and it is a disease in which lymphocytes such as B cells, T cells, and NK cells, which are a type of white blood cells, are cancerized and proliferate indefinitely. Areas where malignant lymphoma occurs are classified as lymphatic tissue extrapulmonary organs (outpatient organs).

Lymphatic system tissues are tissues and organs such as lymphatic vessels, lymphatic fluid, tonsils, thymus, and spleen. The extra-lymph organs are the thyroid, bone marrow, lungs, liver, stomach, intestines, and skin. Because lymphatic tissue and organs are all over the body, they can occur in the whole body.

Malignant lymphoma is classified into more than 50 types depending on the shape and nature of cancer cells, and each has different symptoms and treatments. It can be largely divided into "Hodgkin lymphoma" and "Non-Hodgkin lymphoma." Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is two types: B cell lymphoma and T/NK cell lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is classified into three types of malignancies, ranging from low-malignancy, which is very slow, to high-malignancy, which requires urgent and urgent treatment, depending on the speed of the disease. If the lesion is small and does not cause symptoms due to lymphoma, careful follow-up is possible.

Causes of malignant lymphoma may include viruses such as EB virus, autoimmune diseases such as bacteria (pyrrolis), rheumatoid arthritis, drugs such as methotrexat that induce immune failure, and chemicals, but the cause may not be known.

In the confirmation of malignant lymphoma, a pathological test using a part of a tumor collected from surgical resection or biopsy is performed. Even if clinically malignant lymphoma is suspected, a single biopsy cannot confirm and may require a biopsy again. The incidence rate is on the rise every year, around 13 per 100,000 people.

symptoms of malignant lymphoma

Symptoms of malignant lymphoma vary depending on the site or type of development, but lymph node enlargement is the most common. After the outbreak, lymph nodes such as the neck, armpits, and tip of the legs that touch the surface of the body can be swollen to be aware of the lump.

When the lump becomes larger and cancer spreads throughout the body according to the flow of lymphocytes, symptoms such as fever, weight loss, and significant cold sweat appear. When lumps are formed in organs other than lymph nodes, various symptoms appear due to damage to the affected organs.

For example, a variety occurs in the lungs, causing water to accumulate in the chest. In chest lesions, types occur in the mediastinum where important organs gather, compressing the heart, arteries, and veins. In addition, abdominal lesions can cause tumors in the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, resulting in bleeding or intestinal obstruction.

There are also not many, but neurological symptoms occur when there are types in the head. In addition, you may be diagnosed outside of the hematology department to cause symptoms in various organs.

Causes of Malignant Lymphoma

The mechanism of development of malignant lymphoma has not yet been clearly identified, but certain genetic mutations are known to be involved. In addition, some types of malignant lymphoma are known to have a rapid increase in incidence due to a significant decrease in immunity due to viral diseases. In addition, there is also malignant lymphoma that merges with autoimmune diseases, so it seems that immunity abnormalities are involved as one of the causes of malignant lymphoma.

Examination and diagnosis of malignant lymphoma

In the diagnosis of malignant lymphoma, some or all of the swollen lymph nodes or types are surgically removed, and the tissue is examined for pathology under a microscope. In general, it can be performed in an outpatient clinic through local anesthesia, but in the case of areas that are not accessible from the outside, tissue is collected by stabbing a needle using a gastric camera, colonoscope, CT, and echo.

In addition, bone marrow tests and fluid tests are conducted to check the blood-producing area called bone marrow in the bone or the presence or absence of lymphoma cells in the fluid around the brain. If malignant lymphoma is suspected due to symptoms, blood tests, burn tests, and pathology tests are performed.

After the diagnosis is confirmed, a PET/CT test is performed to diagnose the spread of the disease and the treatment policy is determined. The case where there is a weapon on only one side of the diaphragm is called the Korean flag (Phase I, Phase II), and the case where it spreads to both sides of the diaphragm is called the progressive flag (Phase III, Phase II). In each stage, it is divided into A and B with or without systemic symptoms such as fever, weight loss, and cold sweat.

a blood test

Blood tests are conducted for the purpose of examining the number of white blood cells or lymphocytes or determining the overall condition. It mainly checks the function of the liver and kidneys and determines whether they are in a condition that can withstand future treatment and what side effects need attention.

In some cases, viral infections cause malignant lymphoma, so infections such as hepatitis B viruses are investigated to make it easier for complications to occur due to occur. We also investigate serum LDH, soluble interleukin 2 receptors (slL-2R), and CRP, which are indicators of disease status.

a burn examination

Due to the progression of malignant lymphoma, the type and tumor spread throughout the body. In order to find out how far the disease is spreading and how it can be treated, CT examination, MRI examination, ultrasound (eco) examination, PET examination (positron emission tomography), etc. are conducted.

pathological examination

Pathological tests are tests to determine the "diagnosis" and "disease classification" of malignant lymphoma. Pathological tests are performed on tumor biopsy or lymph node biopsy. After anesthesia, cut off the lumped lymph nodes or parts of the tumor and perform microscopic observation. At this time, some of the cut tissue is also used for chromosome testing or genetic testing.

treatment of malignant lymphoma

Treatment of malignant lymphoma depends on the type and stage of malignant lymphoma. Treatment ranges from relatively few side effects that can be performed by patients with less physical strength to burdensome patients, such as multidrug combination chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Malignant lymphoma treatment is determined by combining them, so even the same malignant lymphoma can be treated differently.

Depending on the type of malignant lymphoma, some progresses slowly, and when diagnosed like that, the progress is carefully observed without treatment. In an extremely early stage when cancer has not spread throughout the body, the cancer may be irradiated with radiation to reduce lesions.

If cancer spreads further, malignant lymphoma treatment is performed with drug therapy using anticancer drugs or molecular targeted treatments. Malignant lymphoma progresses as it spreads throughout the body, so drug administration has the effect of spreading throughout the body to reduce cancer. The drug used depends on the type of malignant lymphoma, and four to five types of anticancer drugs or molecular target treatments are usually used together.

Even after these drug treatments or radiation treatments, if the recurrence rate is high or if the recurrence is actually confirmed, hematopoietic stem cells that produce lymphocytes and other blood cells are transplanted.

Problems after the treatment of malignant lymphoma include secondary cancer, including other blood tumors such as leukemia, and chronic complications such as infertility, lifestyle diseases, organ disorders, and osteoporosis. Even after the treatment is over, let's get regular checkups for the period recommended by the doctor and actively examine the workplace and local examinations.

arrangement

The mechanism of development of malignant lymphoma is known to involve certain genetic mutations, and the initial symptoms are lymph node swelling such as neck, armpit, and lower leg, and awareness of lumps. As the lump grows and cancer spreads throughout the body according to the flow of lymphocytes, lumps can form in organs other than lymph nodes, so it is important to be diagnosed by a doctor if you are aware of the initial symptoms.