What are the symptoms of lymphoma

Lymphoma is a relatively serious disease and a malignant tumor. It often occurs in young and middle-aged people, and is more common in men than in women. If it is not diagnosed and treated in time, it will be extremely harmful to one's health. The symptoms vary greatly due to the different locations and ranges of invasion of lymphoma cells. The primary site can be in the lymph nodes or in the lymphatic tissue outside the lymph nodes.

Common symptoms of lymphoma include:

1. Local manifestations

Lymph node enlargement is a symptom of lymphoma, 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 the abdominal groove. Deep lymph nodes are more common in the mediastinum and beside the abdominal aorta. Lymph node enlargement causes local compression symptoms, mainly deep lymph nodes, such as enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, which can compress the esophagus and cause dysphagia; compress the superior vena cava to cause superior vena cava syndrome; compress the trachea to cause coughing, chest tightness, dyspnea and cyanosis.

2. Systemic symptoms of lymphoma

Fever: The fever pattern is mostly irregular, ranging between 38-39°C for many years. Some patients may have continuous high fever, or intermittent low fever, and a few have periodic fever; Weight loss: Most patients have weight loss, reducing their original body weight by more than 10% within 6 months; Night sweats: Sweating at night or after falling asleep.

What causes lymphoma?

1. Physical causes (radiation). The incidence of lymphoma is not only related to the dose of absorbed radiation, but also to the age at the time of exposure. The incidence of lymphoma is higher in people under 25 years old exposed to radiation than in other groups. The impact of medical radiation on the incidence of human tumors has received increasing attention, especially high-dose radiation has a promoting effect on the occurrence of human lymphoma.

2. Chemical causes: Among the types of chemical carcinogens, alkylating agents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and aromatic amine compounds are related to the causes of lymphoma.

3. Immune factors. Malignant lymphoma is a malignant tumor of the immune system. Immunodeficiency is one of the important causes of malignant lymphoma. Under normal circumstances, the human immune system has an immune surveillance function and can clear mutated or cancerous cells in the body. Immunodeficiency patients are prone to opportunistic infections, especially viral infections.

4. Genetic factors. There are many reports on the relationship between genetic factors and the causes of lymphoma. Sometimes, obvious family clustering can be seen, such as brothers and sisters may suffer from malignant lymphoma successively or simultaneously.