Typical symptoms of lymphoma

Written by Zhou Zi Hua
Oncology
Updated on September 13, 2024
00:00
00:00

Typical symptoms of lymphoma include night sweats, fever, and weight loss. This fever often occurs in the afternoon, characterized as a cyclical fever that lasts for several days with irregular patterns. There are fever-free intervals ranging from a few days to several weeks, almost a nonspecific symptom but not commonly seen. Fever, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss of more than 10% within six months, or even emaciation, are considered B symptoms and are associated with a poor prognosis. In addition, skin itching is also not uncommon in late-stage patients.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Liang
Oncology
1min 8sec home-news-image

Symptoms of Lymphoma

The symptoms of lymphoma mostly present as painless enlarged superficial lymph nodes, which are common clinical manifestations. Additionally, there may be enlargement of the liver and spleen, with multiple organs throughout the body possibly affected. In advanced stages, patients may experience invasion of the bone marrow. There are also special types of extranodal lymphomas which exhibit specific symptoms. For instance, lymphomas originating in the stomach may present with upper abdominal masses, or symptoms like anemia, weight loss, black stools, and even upper abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting related to the gastrointestinal tract. If the lymphoma originates in the nasal cavity, known as NK/T-cell lymphoma, symptoms may include tinnitus, nasal congestion, runny nose, and nosebleeds, among others. Some lymphoma patients may also experience fever, generalized weakness, weight loss, collectively referred to as B symptoms.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Peng Li Bo
Oncology
45sec home-news-image

Is lymphoma hereditary?

Lymphoma is generally not hereditary, as it is not a genetic disease. However, I must mention that most neoplastic diseases do have some hereditary factors to some extent. The reason for this is that the cause of lymphoma is currently unclear, and it may be related to genetic mutations, which raises the issue of heredity. Another point is that heredity often refers to transmission among direct relatives. This means there could be a problem in that you might share similar environments and lifestyles, including diet. If there are factors in your diet or living environment that could trigger lymphoma, and you are both exposed to these factors, then your probability of developing lymphoma could indeed be higher than in patients without a family history, leading to such a concern.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Liang
Oncology
44sec home-news-image

Can lymphoma be cured?

Whether lymphoma can be cured depends on the specific pathological type of lymphoma, as there are dozens of subtypes, each with different prognoses and sensitivities to treatment. Additionally, the stage of lymphoma in patients also affects the prognosis. For example, patients with early-stage lymphoma can achieve a cure through radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, for patients with advanced-stage lymphoma, treatment primarily involves chemotherapy, especially in cases of highly aggressive lymphoma, where it is difficult to achieve a complete cure. The goal of treatment in such cases is to alleviate pain and extend the patient's life.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Liang
Oncology
42sec home-news-image

Can people with lymphoma eat beef?

The diet for lymphoma patients isn't particularly special; it’s just like the diet of healthy individuals, with no need for specific dietary restrictions. Moreover, there aren't any prohibitions related to "hot-natured" foods as mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine. From a Western medicine perspective, the focus is simply on enhancing the patient's nutrition. This can be achieved by eating smaller, more frequent meals, and ensuring a balanced diet with a good mix of meat and vegetables. There are no special dietary taboos; all foods are permissible, provided one avoids junk food. Therefore, foods like beef and lamb are perfectly acceptable.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Liang
Oncology
40sec home-news-image

Is lymphoma the same as lymphatic cancer?

Lymphoma refers to a type of malignant tumor that originates in lymph nodes or extranodal tissues or organs. The cancer we usually talk about refers to malignant tumors originating from epithelial tissues, which we call cancer, such as lung cancer, liver cancer, etc. Therefore, lymphoma is actually what non-medical professionals commonly refer to as lymphatic cancer. It is simply called lymphoma instead of cancer because it originates in lymph nodes or extranodal tissues or organs, and therefore, it is termed malignant lymphoma, which in layman's terms is lymphatic cancer.