Online CPR Certification Blog

The epidemiology of lymphoma

Lymphoma is rated at number three among the most common childhood malignancies. 7 percent of cancers diagnosed in children below 20 years comprise of NHL and in US, about 800 NHL cases are diagnosed yearly. NHL incidence as observed in adolescents and children vary a lot and depends on their race, age, gender and histology. Even though there isn’t any sharp age peak as such, childhood NHL is more common in a child’s second decade of their life and infrequently occurs among children aged below 3 years. Males are more vulnerable to getting childhood NHL more than females.

Childhood NFL prognostic factors

With the current treatments available, over 80 percent of adolescents and children with NHL survive about 5 years even though the outcome varies a lot depending on a couple of factors such as histology and clinical stage. One of the factors include the age of the child in the sense that NHL cases in infants are quite rate. The site of disease also matters a lot and generally speaking, patients having low state disease are known to have excellent prognosis. Chromosomal abnormalities have also been cited to be having prognostic value as well just like it is the case with tumor burden. Also, response to therapy matters a lot as this determines the ease of treating the disease once it has been diagnosed.

Childhood NFL staging scheme

The staging scheme that is used widely for childhood lymphoma is the one proposed by St Jude Children Research Hospital. Stage 1 involves just a single nodal area or tumor but excludes mediastinum and abdomen. Then there is stage II whereby the extent of the disease is limited to just a single tumor that involves regional node on the diaphragm. In stage III, the tumors being said about are present on the two sides of diaphragm and any kind of primary intrathorauc disease, epidural tumors or intra- abdominal disease is involved as well. Finally there is stage IV where the central nervous system and or bone marrow is involved without regard to the site involved.

Treatment options available

While there are various options of treatment available for treating childhood lymphoma, research doesn’t indicate if there is any kind of treatment that is more effective than the other. Nevertheless, the various options available for treatment of this condition include chemotherapy and the usual treatments for cancer. As usual, the stage in which the cancer is detected will determine the kind of treatment option and early detection is essential as it increases the rate of survival. Patients are also encouraged to participate in clinical trials as well as this helps a lot in finding a better treatment of the disease. NIC web site has general info regarding clinical trials and it is essential that you check the site.