Treatment of follicular lymphoma

According to pathological classification, lymphoma can be divided into two categories: Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. According to the growth rate of the tumor, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can be divided into three types: slow-growing indolent lymphoma, fast-growing invasive lymphoma, and very fast-growing highly invasive lymphoma. Follicular lymphoma is a type of indolent lymphoma.

Most patients with follicular lymphoma are elderly people, and it is generally believed that they cannot be cured through conventional treatment. The median survival time of patients is 8 to 10 years.

Clinical investigations have shown that standard chemotherapy does not improve overall survival, so the current treatment options for follicular lymphoma tend to be more individualized. It is necessary to consider the patient's age, symptoms, short-term and long-term treatment goals, comorbidities, and economic affordability, as well as the stage of the disease, whether there is a pathological type transformation, the site of lesion invasion, previous treatment plans, and the interval between the last treatment and now. The purpose of treatment is to improve the patient's quality of life, alleviate related symptoms, and prolong the remission time. But it is worth mentioning that no matter which method is used, traditional Chinese medicine treatment can be used throughout.

In addition, since follicular lymphoma is often combined with some diseases that affect treatment options in clinical practice, for patients without treatment indications, observation and waiting may be a more appropriate treatment method.