There are treatments for all patients with childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and patients can be cured. Bone marrow transplantation is being tested in clinical trials for certain patients. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drugs enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body.
Radiation given to the brain to kill cancer cells growing there is called cranial irradiation.
Bone marrow transplantation is a newer type of treatment. Sometimes lymphoma cells become resistant to treatment with radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Very high doses of chemotherapy may then be used to treat the cancer. Because the high doses of chemotherapy can destroy the bone marrow, marrow is taken from the bones before treatment. The marrow is then frozen and high-dose chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy is given to treat the cancer.