Thompson's Lymphoma has been narrowed down but still don't know the Stage

 This is from a CBS News article that I went back to review.

• Thompson's doctor said he has a subtype known as "marginal zone lymphoma" and was treated with a drug called Rituxan, a monoclonal antibody which zeros in on cancer cells to specifically target them. But Cheson confirmed that Thompson is in remission with no signs of the cancer detectable by medical tests.

 

• Some of these subtypes are termed "indolent," meaning they typically respond well to treatment — patients often go into remission for long periods, but the disease is not cured and may need to be battled back again periodically.
  

 

• Survival varies widely, depending on the subtype of lymphoma. But overall, five-year survival for the non-Hodgkin's group of lymphomas is 63 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.
  

 

• Lymphoma is an immune-system cancer that strikes more than 71,000 Americans a year, and kills more than 19,000 of them. The vast majority have the non-Hodgkin's form of lymphoma, a term that encompasses more than 30 different subtypes of the disease.
  
  
  

This is a Lymphoma from the Follicular Cell or B Cell Family Marginal Zone Lymphomas are a related cancers of the lymphatic system - a complex system of lymph organs, including the bone marrow, thymus, spleen, and the lymph nodes.

 

From Lymphomation.org

 

The word "marginal zone" describes the cell type. B-cells arise from the bone marrow and mature or differentiate into many cell types that tend to migrate to different areas of the body in order to defend against pathogens (viruses, bacteria, etc.). 

"The marginal zone of the B follicle represents a well-defined compartment of the B-cell area, a distinct cellular composition from that of the follicle centre (follicular b-cells), from which it also differs in its functional role in the immune response."

B-cell stage: Mature (peripheral) neoplasms

Incidence: Marginal Zone NHL is an relatively uncommon type of b-cell lymphoma, comprising approximately 2-4% of all cases. There are about 61,000 new cases of NHL diagnosed annually. Therefore we calculate that there are approximately 1,000 to 2,300 new cases of marginal zone NHL diagnosed annually.

 

 

---

Don't get soaked. Take a quick peak at the forecast
with theYahoo! Search weather shortcut.