What is the difference between lymph node inflammation and lymphoma?

What is the difference between lymphadenitis and lymphoma? Lymphadenitis and lymphoma have similarities. For example, if a patient feels a small movable lump on the neck, it may not hurt or itch. At this time, it is not easy to determine whether it is lymphadenitis, lymphoma, or other lymphatic diseases.

To distinguish lymphadenitis from lymphoma, we must first understand the pathogenesis. The main pathogen of lymphadenitis is purulent bacteria, which is often secondary to other purulent infection lesions and is caused by pathogenic bacteria invading lymph nodes along lymphatic vessels. Since lymph fluid is divided into zones and collected in lymph nodes in specific areas, primary infection in a certain area can only cause lymphadenitis in a certain area. Therefore, this disease often occurs in the neck, armpits and groin. After the lymph nodes are infected, it can cause inflammation around the lymph nodes, adhesions, and can develop into abscesses.

Lymphoma is a group of malignant tumors that originate from lymph nodes or other lymphatic tissues. In addition to lymph lumps, you should pay attention to whether there is long-term unexplained low-grade fever or periodic fever, especially accompanied by skin itching, night sweats, and weight loss. You should highly suspect the possibility of lymphoma.

How can people without medical knowledge judge whether a lump in lymphatic tissue is good or bad? If it is acute lymphadenitis, the lump will feel soft, red, swollen, hot and painful. If it is lymphoma, it will feel tough, like touching a nose (soft on the outside, hard on the inside), with a smooth surface, usually no tenderness, and will not move when pushed.

If there is a mass in the lymph nodes and there is a long-term unexplained low-grade fever or periodic fever, malignant lymphoma should be highly suspected, especially if accompanied by itchy skin, sweating, and weight loss. Go to a regular hospital for examination in time to avoid delaying the disease. Ultrasound, CT and other examination methods are helpful in diagnosing lymphoma, but the most accurate method is to take a biopsy for pathological diagnosis.

To distinguish between lymphadenitis and lymphoma, we must first understand their pathogenesis. The main pathogens of lymphadenitis are purulent bacteria, and many are secondary to other purulent infection foci, which are caused by pathogenic bacteria infiltrating lymph nodes along the lymph. Because lymph fluid is locally accumulated in lymph nodes in a specific area, primary infection in a certain part can only cause lymphadenitis in a certain part. Therefore, this disease occurs in the neck, armpits, and groin. Lymphangitis may occur after lymph node infection, adhesions form clusters, and develop into abscesses.

Lymphoma is a group of malignant tumors that originate from lymph nodes or other lymphatic tissues. In addition to lymph nodes, you should pay attention to whether there is a long-term low-grade fever or periodic fever of unknown cause, especially accompanied by itchy skin, night sweats, and weight loss. The possibility of lymphoma should be highly suspected.

How can people without medical knowledge judge whether a lump in lymphatic tissue is good or not? If it is acute lymphadenitis, the lump will feel soft, with redness, swelling, heat and pain. If it is lymphoma, it will feel hard, like your nose (soft outside and hard inside), smooth outside, usually not painful, and will not move.

If there is a lymphoma mass and a long-term unexplained low-grade fever or periodic fever occurs, malignant lymphoma should be highly suspected, especially if it is accompanied by itching, sweating, and weight loss. You should go to a regular hospital for examination in time to avoid delaying the disease. Ultrasound and CT are helpful for the diagnosis of lymphoma, but the most accurate method is to take a biopsy for pathological diagnosis.

How does lymphoma recur?

Surgery is a commonly used treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and the effect is more significant. The cancerous tissue removed by surgery is visible, but the absence of cancer cells is invisible. The patient and the surgery are more traumatic. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients are prone to physical weakness after surgery, decreased immune function, and loss of many trace elements. They may experience symptoms such as dizziness and loss of appetite. It is recommended that patients should take Chinese medicine to consolidate treatment after surgery, which can reduce the damage caused by surgery to patients, regulate the patient's body functions, enhance the patient's immune function, improve physical condition, kill residual cancer cells, prevent the recurrence and metastasis of cancer cells, and improve the efficacy of surgery.

How is lymphoma treated?

Radiation therapy

Some types of lymphoma can be treated with radiation therapy alone in the early stages. Radiation therapy can also be used as consolidation therapy after chemotherapy and as adjuvant therapy during transplantation.

Chemical treatment

Chemotherapy for lymphoma is often combined with chemotherapy, which may be combined with targeted therapy drugs and biologics. In recent years, chemotherapy regimens for lymphoma have greatly improved, and long-term survival rates for many types of lymphoma have also greatly improved.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may also be considered in younger patients with local relapse or bone marrow invasion.

Surgery

Limited to biopsy or complication treatment; there is no contraindication for patients with hypersplenism, and those with a splenectomy index can have their spleen removed to improve blood counts and create favorable conditions for subsequent treatment.

Lymphoma is highly heterogeneous, and there are great differences in treatment. There are great differences in treatment intensity and prognosis for lymphomas of different pathological types and stages. The above are the main treatment methods for lymphoma, but the specific treatment should still be analyzed according to the actual situation of the patient.