Fighting lymphoma: Treatment options include alternatives to chemotherapy, expert explains – Mayo Clinic

Editor's Note: May 28 is World Blood Cancer Day

ROCHESTER, Minn. Chemotherapy is usually the first treatment doctors try to treat lymphoma, including the two most common forms: non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin. But alternatives to chemotherapy are developing, as first-line treatments and as backup options, explains Stephen Ansell, M.D., Ph.D., hematology chair and hematologic oncologist at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Lymphoma is a blood cancer that begins when a germ-fighting white blood cell, called a lymphocyte, mutates and rapidly multiplies. There were roughly a half-million new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 82,409 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma in 2022, making them the 10th and 26th most commonly diagnosed cancers that year, respectively, according to the most recent statistics from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Symptoms may include swollen lymph nodes, itchy skin, night sweats, fever, persistent fatigue, unexplained weight loss and shortness of breath.

Developing novel therapies to improve lymphoma outcomes for patients is a high priority for Dr. Ansell.

"It's about improving outcomes while minimizing side effects using treatments that can specifically target the cancer and have less of an impact on the body's healthy, normal cells," Dr. Ansell says. "There is a high percentage of patients whose lymphoma is cured. When people are cured, they may have to deal with long-term complications. Our idea is to have the best outcomes and minimize long-term problems."

Dr. Ansell's studies have included work as part of Mayo's Early Cancer Therapeutics Group. The therapeutics research group offers patients whose cancers haven't responded to chemotherapy the opportunity to join early phase clinical trials of potential new treatments.

People with lymphoma may receive chemotherapy alone or a combination of chemotherapy and nonchemotherapy treatments, Dr. Ansell says. Nonchemotherapy options include immunotherapy, chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T cell therapy), targeted therapy, bone marrow transplant and radiation therapy, he explains:

Unfortunately, there is no known way to prevent lymphoma, but a healthy diet and exercise are important. They can help patients better cope with cancer treatments and have better outcomes, Dr. Ansell says.

###

About Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

More:
Fighting lymphoma: Treatment options include alternatives to chemotherapy, expert explains - Mayo Clinic