What Are the Treatments for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
For non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment, your doctor will base his or her decisions on the characteristics of your malignant cells, the stage of your disease, and in some cases, your symptoms. The goal is to get rid of the cancer cells with as little damage as possible to normal cells, and to minimize side effects of treatment. Talk with your doctor about any side effects you experience. The most common treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma include chemotherapy drugs, often along with radiation therapy (a focused beam of radiation) to kill cancer cells. Biological agents, such as antibodies that target cancer cells, can also be used. Because chemotherapy and high-dose radiation kill bone marrow cells responsible for producing red and white blood cells and platelets, your doctor may recommend that you undergo a transplant of your bone marrow or stem cells (master cells that can develop into any of the other types of blood cells). This involves taking normal stem cells or bone marrow from y
