Treatment for lymphatic cancer is made according to the person's age, symptoms and stage of the disease, and immunotherapy, chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation may be recommended. It is common that during treatment the person suffers from some adverse reactions related to medication, such as hair loss, weight loss and gastrointestinal disorders, for example, and, therefore, it is important that it is monitored regularly by the medical and nursing staff.
Lymphatic cancer is curable when it is diagnosed early and the cancer cells have not yet spread throughout the body. In addition, the most common type of lymphatic cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that affects type B lymphatic cells, when it is discovered in its early stage has about 80% cure and, even when it is discovered at a more advanced stage, the patient has approximately 35% chance of curing the disease.
Learn to recognize the symptoms of lymphatic cancer.
Treatment for lymphatic cancer can vary depending on the involvement of the lymph nodes and whether the cancer cells have already spread or not in the individual's body and can be done with drugs, when the cancer is discovered in its initial phase, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or the junction from both.
The main treatment options for lymphatic cancer are:
1. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is one of the main treatments for cancer, and it is done by administering medications directly into the person's vein, or orally, with the aim of promoting the destruction and reduction of the proliferation of cancer cells that form lymphoma..
Despite being effective and widely used, the drugs used in chemotherapy not only affect cancer cells, but also healthy cells in the body, leaving the immune system more sensitized and leading to the appearance of some side effects, such as hair loss, nausea, weakness, mouth sores, constipation or diarrhea, for example.
The medications to be used and the frequency of treatment should be indicated by the doctor according to the type of cancer that the person has and the stage of the disease. See how chemotherapy is done.
2. Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy aims to destroy the tumor and, consequently, eliminate tumor cells through the application of radiation. This type of treatment is usually performed together with chemotherapy, especially after surgery to remove the tumor, in order to eliminate cancer cells that were not removed in the surgery.
Despite being efficient in the treatment of lymphatic cancer, radiotherapy, as well as chemotherapy, is associated with several side effects, such as loss of appetite, nausea, dry mouth and skin peeling, for example.
3. Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a relatively new type of treatment for lymphatic cancer that consists of the use of medications and / or injections of antibodies in order to stimulate the immune system to fight the tumor and decrease the replication rate of tumor cells, increasing the chance of cure.
This type of treatment can be used alone, when other types of treatment do not have the desired effect, or as a complement to chemotherapy. Understand how immunotherapy works.
4. Bone marrow transplantation
This type of treatment is usually indicated when the person does not respond to other treatments performed and aims to stimulate the production of healthy blood cells, by replacing the defective bone marrow with a healthy one, that is, that has functional hematopoietic stem cells., which are the cells responsible for originating blood cells.
Thus, from the moment a person receives a normal bone marrow, new blood cells are produced, resulting in greater activity of the immune system and combat of the tumor, increasing the chances of cure. However, it is important that the patient who received the transplant be monitored, because even before tests were carried out with the aim of verifying compatibility, there may be reactions to this type of treatment or the transplant may not be effective.
Therefore, it is important for the patient to have blood tests regularly to check that blood cells are being produced normally. Understand how bone marrow transplantation is done.
