So, yes, cancer can spread during chemotherapy. Spreading could mean the tumor keeps growing, or that the original tumor shrinks, but cancer metastasizes, forming tumors in other areas of the body.
There is a chance that your treatment can increase the risk of getting another type of cancer in the future. This is because both chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy work by damaging cells. They kill the lymphoma cells, but they can damage healthy cells too.
Usually chemotherapy works very well for most people with Hodgkin lymphoma. But sometimes the lymphoma may not completely respond to the treatment. If this happens it can still be treated successfully. Your doctor may talk to you about having more intensive chemotherapy with a stem cell transplant.
A short course of treatment usually takes about 6 to 12 weeks. Or you might have a longer course of chemotherapy and a targeted drug, without radiotherapy. Whether you have radiotherapy depends on factors such as where the lymphoma is in the body and how fit you are.
This can happen because the treatment didn't destroy all the cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells by attacking cells that are in the process of doubling to form 2 new cells. But not all the cells in a cancer divide at the same time. Normal cells go into a long rest period between divisions.
While chemotherapy is one of the oldest and most successful ways of treating cancer, it doesn't always work. So, yes, cancer can spread during chemotherapy. Spreading could mean the tumor keeps growing, or that the original tumor shrinks, but cancer metastasizes, forming tumors in other areas of the body.
However, in some patients the disease breaks out more aggressively after chemo, even in cases where it successfully shrinks the initial tumor. The researchers focused on the development of metastases in lung tissue following chemotherapy for breast cancer.
Stage 4 lymphoma is treatable. Aggressive rounds of chemotherapy are often given as a first-line treatment for lymphoma at this stage. The five-year relative survival rate for stage 4 lymphoma varies and ranges from 57% to 86% based on the type you have.
Relapsed low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma is likely to relapse and need more treatment. This is because chemotherapy works well on cells in that are in the process of dividing, as is the case of high-grade (fast-growing) lymphomas.
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma
This fast-growing lymphoma accounts for about one third of NHL cases. For this lymphoma, it is typical for lymph nodes to double in size every month, and patients often present within a few months of having noted an enlarged lymph node.
Lymphoma that does not respond
You might have more treatment, for example, radiotherapy as well as chemotherapy. Or they may change your chemotherapy drugs, or give you the biological therapy drug brentuximab. Or your doctor might suggest high dose chemotherapy treatment with a stem cell or bone marrow transplant.
Lymphoma is often curable, especially in its initial stages.
Blastic NK cell lymphoma
This very rare type of T cell lymphoma only affects a few people each year. It usually affects adults. Blastic NK cell lymphoma tends to grow very quickly and can be difficult to treat. It can start almost anywhere in the body.
you develop 'B symptoms' (night sweats, weight loss and fevers) your lymph nodes or spleen start to grow quickly or you develop swollen lymph nodes in new places. your blood tests or other test results show that lymphoma is affecting your major organs or is growing in your bone marrow.
A typical chemotherapy regime for Hodgkin lymphoma might involve around six cycles of a combination of drugs, given over a period of six months. There are many different ways of giving chemotherapy. It may be given through a vein (intravenously or IV), usually in your arm or hand, or in tablet form (orally).
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is usually treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, although some people may not need treatment straight away. In a few cases, if the initial cancer is very small and can be removed during a biopsy, no further treatment may be needed.
Stage 4. Stage 4 is the most advanced stage of lymphoma. Lymphoma that has started in the lymph nodes and spread to at least one body organ outside the lymphatic system (for example, the lungs, liver, bone marrow or solid bones) is advanced lymphoma.
It is important to note that everyone is different, and many people can live much longer than these estimates suggest. Overall, the 5-year survival rate for stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma is 65 percent . The following risk factors affect a person's prognosis and can make lymphoma more severe: presence of B symptoms.
Stage III-IV lymphomas are common, still very treatable, and often curable, depending on the NHL subtype. Stage III and stage IV are now considered a single category because they have the same treatment and prognosis.
Many of the commonly used cancer treatments, such as radiation or chemotherapy, kill tumor cells. But sometimes, after those cells have died and been cleared away, a tumor will respond by growing faster and more aggressively.
Recurrent cancer may be more aggressive than the original cancer if it's already spread to other parts of the body, or if it's become resistant to chemotherapy. The sooner the cancer returns, the more serious it likely is.
Stage 4 cancer treatment. Stage 4 cancer is challenging to treat, but treatment options may help control the cancer and improve pain, other symptoms and quality of life. Systemic drug treatments, such as targeted therapy or chemotherapy, are common for stage 4 cancers.