Lymphoma Oncology Basics

Lymphoma is a malignancy of lymphocytes. Abnormal cells accumulate in lymph nodes or other lymphoid tissues, and some subtypes also involve the spleen, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, skin, or central nervous system. Hodgkin lymphoma is identified by Reed–Sternberg cells within a characteristic inflammatory background. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a broad group of B-cell, T-cell, and natural-killer-cell neoplasms. The World Health Organization Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours, 5th edition, is current; the parallel 2022 International Consensus Classification means that pathology reports and older resources may use different names for related entities. The bedside pattern that deserves follow-up is a painless, firm, progressively enlarging node, particularly in the cervical or supraclavicular region. A tender node after a short infectious illness is more often reactive, but tenderness does not exclude malignancy and persistence or progression changes the priority. Lymphoma may also present with fatigue, pruritus, recurrent infections, cytopenia-related bleeding or pallor, or symptoms from an extranodal mass. B symptoms are not a vague description of “feeling unwell.” They are a defined triad: - unexplained fever; - drenching night sweats; and - unintentional loss of more...