Hodgkin's Lymphoma Case Study

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) is a type of cancer that originates in the lymphatic system, the system in the body that is responsible for fighting disease, and is known to be the 6th most common cause of cancer death.1 There are many different types of lymphoma and is classified based on multiple factors such as the pathophysiology of the disease, how the disease metastasizes to other organs and its response to treatment. The two main types of lymphoma are NHL and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma can be differentiated from NHL by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells which are mature B cells that have become malignant and carry more than one nucleus.2 However, NHL can be diagnosed by the presence of B cells or T cells.3 Both NHL and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma are a rare disease but NHL appears to be more common.2 Differentiating lymphoma from leukemia is important since they are both disease of white blood cells and the system responsible for fighting disease. …show more content…
In the disease process of leukemia, the bone marrow produces white blood cells that continuously multiply and eventually take over the red blood cells, which is the human bodies oxygen and nutrient transport.4 Whereas, lymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymph nodes but can also occur from the spread of abnormal white blood cells in different parts of the body.4 Diagnosing NHL can be difficult because there are many types of lymphoma along with different systems that have been used to diagnose the disease.2 Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) is being used to classify NHL and group lymphomas based on appearance under the microscope, chromosome features and the presence of proteins on the surface of the cell.2 The common types of NHL are B-cell lymphoma, Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Follicular lymphoma, Mantle cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma and T-cell lymphomas.3 B-cell lymphoma makes up approximately 85% of all NHL whereas, T-cell lymphoma makes up about 15% of