Doctors determine the stage of the cancer according to the number and location of tumors. Biopsies of the bone marrow and lymph nodes often are necessary. Younger patients also usually fare better than older ones. Experts predict that this information will soon foster a new classification scheme that more accurately predicts outcome. Treatment Varies Doctors tailor treatment of NHL to the type of tumor, the stage of the disease, and the patient's age and general health.
Most patients receive chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or both.
NCI researchers and others have shown that delaying treatment does not adversely affect long-term survival and may actually improve patients' quality of life, as the treatments themselves can be debilitating. Chemotherapy for NHL usually involves several different drugs given at the same time. To treat disease that has spread to the brain, chemotherapy may be delivered to the fluid that surrounds the brain through a needle in the spine. Although used for about 20 years, recent studies suggest this regimen is as effective and has less serious side effects than some of the newer drug combinations, according to Alan Aisenberg, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital. An experimental NHL chemotherapy compound is a drug called fludarabine.