Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma | Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). Is a type of cancer that generally develops in the lymph nodes and lymphatic tissue found in organs such as the stomach, intestines ... Skiptomaincontent Lymphoma HodgkinLymphoma Non-HodgkinLymphoma SignsandSymptoms Diagnosis NHLSubtypes Treatment ChildhoodNon-HodgkinLymphoma GetPersonalizedInformation&Support  1-800-955-4572  LiveChat  Email Non-HodgkinLymphoma(NHL) Isatypeofcancerthatgenerallydevelopsinthelymphnodesandlymphatictissuefoundinorgans suchasthestomach,intestinesorskin. Insomecases,NHLinvolvesbonemarrowandblood. Isn'tjustonedisease–it'sactuallyadiversegroupofbloodcancersthatallarisefromlymphocytes(whitebloodcellsthatarepartoftheimmunesystem). Lymphomacellsmaydevelopinjustoneplaceorinmanysitesinthebody. NHLhasmanydifferentsubtypeswhichareeitherindolent(slow-growing)oraggressive(fast-growing). ClickheretoaccessNHLstatistics. WhatYouShouldKnow HematologistsandoncologistsarespecialistswhotreatpeoplewhohaveNHLorothertypesofbloodcancer. It'simportanttoknowyourNHLsubtype.  WhatYouShouldDo Seektreatmentinacancercenterwheredoctorsareexperiencedtreatingpatientswithlymphoma. Talkwithyourdoctoraboutyourdiagnostictestsandwhattheresultsmean. BesureyouknowyourNHLsubtype-differentsubtypeshavedifferenttreatments. Talkwithyourdoctoraboutallyourtreatmentoptionsandtheresultsyoucanexpectfromtreatment.  Obtainandkeeprecordsofyourtestresultsandthetreatmentyoureceiveasthisinformationisusefulforlong-termfollow-upcare.  Todownloadlistsofsuggestedquestionstoaskyourhealthcareproviders,clickhere. HowDoesNHLDevelop? Acellundergoesachange(mutation)inalymphnodeorinsomeotherlymphaticstructure.Itcanstartinoneofthreemajortypesoflymphocytes: Blymphocytes(Bcells), whichproduceantibodiestohelpcombatinfections Tlymphocytes(Tcells), whichhaveseveralfunctions,includinghelpingBlymphocytesmakeantibodies Naturalkiller(NK)cells, whichattackvirus-infectedcellsortumorcells About85-90percentofNHLcasesstartintheBcells.  Theabnormallymphocytegrowsoutofcontrolandproducesmoreabnormalcellslikeit. Theseabnormallymphocytes(lymphomacells)accumulateandformmasses(tumors).IfNHLisn'ttreated,thecancerouscellscrowdoutnormalwhitecells,andtheimmunesystemcan'tguardagainstinfectioneffectively. NHLthatdevelopsinorspreadstootherareasofthebodywherelymphoidtissueisfound,suchasthespleen,digestivetractandbonemarrow,iscalledprimaryextranodallymphoma. NHLisclassifiedintomorethan60different subtypes.DoctorsclassifytheNHLsubtypesintocategoriesthatdescribehowrapidlyorslowlythediseaseisprogressing: Aggressive(fast-growing)NHL Indolent(slow-growing)NHL RiskFactors TheexactcauseofNHLisnotknown,butthereareriskfactorsthatmayincreasethelikelihoodofdevelopingthedisease.Factorsaffectingpeople’sriskofdevelopingNHLhavebeenstudiedextensively.Someofthesefactorsareimmunedisorders,medicines,infections,lifestyle,genetics,race,familyhistoryandoccupationalfactors.Someriskfactorsdifferbysubtype.SeeCausesandRiskFactorsinNon-HodgkinLymphomaformore.       Source: Non-HodgkinLymphoma.ReviewedbyJamesO.Armitage,MD. HelpfulResources: Webcasts Videos InformationBooklets FinancialSupport OnlineChats LLSCommunity Peer-to-PeerSupport SupportGroups eNewsletters PreviousArticle ChildhoodHodgkinLymphoma NextArticle SignsandSymptoms