What is lymphoma?

Malignant lymphoma, also known as "lymphoma", is a malignant tumor originating from lymph nodes or other lymphatic tissues. It is one of the ten most common malignant tumors in my country. This disease is more common in middle-aged and young people, and male patients are more common than female patients. This disease can be divided into two categories according to its cell components: Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Its malignancy varies, and it is caused by the malignant proliferation of the lymph-tissue cell system, and mostly occurs in the lymph nodes.

Symptoms of Lymphoma

The main symptoms are swollen lymph nodes felt on the body. In the early stage, they are painless and itchy, so they are often ignored. About 6% of lymphomas are first found in swollen lymph nodes in the neck. At the beginning, only one is swollen, and then the number increases and becomes larger and larger. Lymphoma can occur in lymphatic tissues throughout the body, such as the chin, mandible, front neck, clavicle, armpit, groin, mediastinum or abdominal artery. Sometimes it occurs in internal organs, causing compression symptoms; if it occurs in the stomach, small intestine or large intestine, there may be symptoms of peptic ulcer or gastrointestinal dysfunction such as abdominal distension, bloody stool, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc.; if lymphoma invades the bone marrow, it may cause pale face, fever, abnormal bleeding and other leukopenia, and sometimes abnormal lymphocytes can be seen in the peripheral blood.

Because the sites and ranges of lymphoma cell invasion are different, the clinical manifestations are very inconsistent. The primary site can be in the lymph nodes or in the lymphatic tissue outside the lymph nodes. But in general, there are three manifestations:

Local manifestations

(1) Lymph node enlargement: including superficial and deep lymph nodes. Its characteristics are that the enlarged lymph nodes are progressive, painless, hard, and can be moved. In the early stage, they are not adhered to each other, but in the late stage, they can fuse. Anti-inflammatory and anti-tuberculosis treatments are ineffective. Superficial lymph nodes are more common in the neck, followed by the armpits and abdominal groove. Deep lymph nodes are more common in the mediastinum and beside the abdominal aorta. (2) Local compression symptoms caused by lymph node enlargement: mainly refers to deep lymph nodes, such as enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, which can compress the esophagus and cause dysphagia; compress the superior vena cava and cause superior vena cava syndrome; compress the trachea and cause cough, chest tightness, dyspnea and cyanosis.

Systemic symptoms

(1) Fever: Fever patterns are often irregular, ranging from 38 to 39°C for many years. Some patients may have continuous high fever, or intermittent low fever, and a few may have periodic fever. (2) Weight loss: Most patients experience weight loss, losing more than 10% of their original body weight within 6 months. (3) Night sweats: Sweating at night or after falling asleep.

Extranodal lesions

Lymphoma can invade all tissues and organs of the body. For example, infiltration of the liver and spleen causes hepatomegaly; infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract causes abdominal pain, bloating, intestinal obstruction and bleeding; infiltration of the lungs and pleura causes cough and pleural effusion; infiltration of bones causes bone pain and pathological fractures; infiltration of the skin causes itching and subcutaneous nodules; infiltration of the tonsils and mouth, nose and pharynx causes dysphagia, nasal congestion and nasal tingling; infiltration of the nervous system causes spinal cord compression and cranial neuropathy, etc. Once a patient has the above symptoms and signs, he should go to the hospital for examination to determine whether he has lymphoma.

After we understand the symptoms of lymphoma, we should pay more attention to our bodies. If the above conditions occur, please seek medical attention in time.