Narayana Hrudayalaya's oncology care centre, Mazumdar Cancer Centre (MCC) is gearing up to create an awareness on early detection of lymphoma or cancer of the lymphatic system or lymph nodes. There are two broad categories : Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkins lymphoma.
Globally September 15 is observed as Lymphoma Awareness Day. MCC will educate the general public about the lymph nodes. NHL is common and accounts for about 70 to 80 per cent of the lymphomas with cure rates ranging from 50-70 per cent with chemotherapy alone. Hodgkins lymphoma is less common but has higher cure rates of more than 80 per cent. NHL has slowly grown from a rare cancer to the fifth most common cancer with an incidence of 19.1 per 100,000 in USA. In India its incidence is on the upsurge with the current figure standing at 5.1 per 100,000 in urban registries.
The Cancer centre will also highlight the latest technologies for diagnosis. These are FDG-PET and molecular markers of prognosis, gene expression profiling and treatment with monoclonal antibodies, bone marrow transplantation and conformal radiation techniques of lymphomas.
Diagnostic modalities like PET scans have improved staging and also monitoring response and detection of early relapse. Molecular markers and gene expression profiling are able to identify a subset of patients who carry a poorer prognosis and who would hence benefit from more aggressive treatment upfront. These patients can also be considered for autologous stem cell transplant which adds an additional 20-25 per cent benefit to the cure rates of chemotherapy alone. In extremely resistant disease or chemotherapy refractory disease, allogeneic stem cell transplant is an option when a HLA matched sibling donor is available.
On the occasion, the hospital will also highlight the success of a 12 year old boy who has survived the disease after being . diagnosed of Anaplastic large cell lymphoma .
Dr Sharat Damodar at Mazumdar Cancer Centre recommended chemotherapy. The young patient who developed tumour lysis syndrome, which is destruction of tumour cells, recovered after he completed 6 cycles of chemotherapy.