Hodgkin's Disease Case Study

After the stage of diagnosis indicating whether a person has Hodgkin’s disease or not, before treatment begins, the doctor will have to do further examinations to determine the extent of Hodgkin’s disease. The cancer will be assigned a stage. The cancer's stage drastically helps determine your prognosis and your treatment options based on the severity. According to medicine.net, there are four stages total that Hodgkin’s is classified in. Stages of Hodgkin's lymphoma include the following: Stage I. The cancer is limited to one lymph node (gland) region or a single organ. Stage II. In this stage, the cancer is in two lymph node regions or the cancer has invaded one organ and the nearby lymph nodes (glands). But the cancer is still limited to a section of the body either above or below the muscles that help the lungs. Stage III. When the cancer moves to lymph nodes …show more content…
There are three main options of treatment for Hodgkin’s disease. The first one is chemotherapy. This involves the use of medications that can kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs may be given orally or injected through a vein, depending on the specific medication. The second type of treatment is radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams of radiation to destroy cancer cells. According to cancer.org, Radiation therapy alone may be sufficient for treating early stages of the disease. A person may only need radiation since the condition tends to spread more slowly than the later stages of Hodgkin’s disease. In advanced stages, targeted therapeutic drugs may be added to your chemotherapy regimen. The last common treatment used, is called immunotherapy. Immunotherapy or a stem cell transplant may also be used if you don’t respond to chemotherapy or radiation. A stem cell transplant infuses healthy cells called stem cells into your body to replace the cancerous cells in your bone