The exciting aspect of all this is that even patients with advanced stages of the disease stand a realistic chance of being cured of the disease. Although staging does affect the prognosis within these figures, there is sufficient overlap that no patient should be considered uncurable until all efforts have been exhausted. Whereas Hodgkin's Disease affects most patients in their 20's to 40's, other lymphomas strike a slightly older population on the average. Enlarged lymph nodes, fever, weight loss, sweating and fatigue are common initial symptoms. Lymphomas may also affect the nodes of the intestines more commonly, and sometimes an intestinal blockage may occur.
Diagnosis is usually by surgical biopsy of an enlarged node.
Like Hodgkin's Disease, lymphomas can be staged in a complicated and technical manner, and this is important for management and prognosis. Tests often required for staging include bone marrow sampling, cat scans, and lymph system x- rays, as well as special nuclear scanning tests. Only occasionally is major surgery done for staging, as was the practice in the past. This complex area involves a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy used in various combinations or alone. Commonly used drugs include prednisone, chlorambucil, procarbazine, cyclophosphamide, bleomycin and doxorubicin.