Treatment for AIDS Complicated with Lymphoma

There are several types of treatment for people with AIDS-related lymphoma. Patients can choose to follow a standard treatment or one tested in a clinical trial. The clinical trial treatment studies the body's reaction when administering new drugs to patients who suffer of cancer. This research study helps scientists to improve the new drugs or helps creating a more effective treatment which will replace the standard treatment.

These trials take place in many clinics from the country. Choosing such a form of treatment implies a decision that regards the patient, its family and the health care team.

A patient that has AIDS -related lymphoma will be harder to treat that a non AIDS-related due to the weakened immune system. The treatment is made for lymphoma as well for AIDS. In treating AIDS doctors use highly-active antiretroviral therapy because the virus that causes AIDS is a retrovirus. The treatment for lymphoma is made with lower doses of drugs than in the standard procedure because the immune system will be damaged even more in case of administering the doses for a non AIDS related lymphoma patient.

One of the procedures applied on people with cancer is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy tries to stop cancerous cells from growing or dividing. There can be used oral drugs or drugs injected into the vein or muscle that will reach the cancer cells by entering the bloodstream, and is called systemic chemotherapy. Another type of chemotherapy is the regional chemotherapy when the chemotherapy is placed directly into the cancerous area, like: spinal column, an organ or inside the abdomen. The treatment is applied regarding to the cancer's type and evolution stage.

After this type of treatment is done stem cells previously taken from the patient's blood or bone marrow or from a donor will be thawed and replaced through an infusion, in order to restore the body's blood cells destroyed by the chemotherapy.

Another type of cancer therapy is the one based on radiations. For killing the cancer cells, there are two types of radiation therapy used: one is the external therapy meaning that a machine situated near the body will transmit radiation towards the cancerous area; the second method is the internal therapy based on radioactive substance sealed in needles and catheters that will be placed in the sick area of the body. The appliance of the radiation therapy also depends on the cancer's type and evolution.

A new type of treatment which is still tested is the use of monoclonal antibodies. These antibodies are made from an immune system cell and are designed to seek and destroy all the substances that can help cancer cells to grow and develop. This treatment seems to be quite effective, but more tests need to be done before its mass use.

So, if you want to find out more about lymphoma cancer or even about symptoms of lymphoma please visit this link http://www.lymphoma-center.com/

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Staging AIDS Complicated With Lymphoma

Diagnosing AIDS-related lymphoma is generally done quite late, after the disease has already advanced. In order to see whether the disease has spread within the lymph system or to other organs, doctors need to perform a procedure called staging that will finally determine the evolution stage of the disease. Knowing all these facts, the doctor can advice the patient what treatment to follow.

One of the tests made to determine the stage of the lymphoma is the CT (computer tomography) an X-ray based machine that will show detailed image of your organs and other related structures to them. You could be advised to take some oral drugs or the doctors will give you an injection that contains some dye, which will help them see a clearer image of your lymph system and bloodstream.

Another test is the PET scan which is designed to find the malign tumors inside your body. The substance used to track the tumors is a radionuclide glucose injected in your vein. This substance will brighten the tumor in the picture because the tumor uses the glucose for its development.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is also useful because it takes detailed pictures of your body, using magnet, radio waves. In this case, the substance used to brighten tumors in the picture is gadolinium.

Other reliable tests are the bone marrow biopsy, made on the hipbone or breastbone, and the lumbar puncture that takes some drops of the cerebrospinal fluid from the spinal column which will be analyzed in the laboratory to see if there are any signs of cancer.

AIDS-related lymphoma stages might include the E and S stages.

The E stage stands for extra-nodal meaning that the cancer has not reached the lymph nodes yet and that it is situated in other organs.

The S stage means that the cancer has reached the spleen and affects it.

Stage I of AIDS-related lymphoma is classified as stage I and stage IE; stage I means that the cancer has affected one group of lymph nodes; stage IE means that the cancer has not reached the lymph nodes yet and affects other organs.

Stage II is classified as stage II (cancer has affected two or more lymph node groups on the same side of the diaphragm) and stage IIE (cancer has affected the lymph nodes near the previous affected organs).

Stage III is divided into stage III, stage IIIE, stage IIIS and stage IIIE+S

Stage III - cancer has affected lymph nodes on the both sides of the diaphragm.

Stage IIIE - besides the lymph node group on the both sides of the diaphragm, cancer is found in other organs too.

Stage IIIS - besides the lymph node group on the both sides of the diaphragm, cancer is found in the spleen too.

Stage IIIE+S - besides the lymph node group on the both sides of the diaphragm, cancer is found in other organs and in the spleen too.

In stage IV the cancer is considered to have attacked multiple organs and associated lymph nodes and also distant lymph node groups.

In AIDS-related lymphoma patients the risk that the cancer will spread towards CNS (central nervous system) is quite high.

In treating the disease, the lymphoma is grouped based on where the cancer started in the organism: if it starts from the lymph nodes is called peripheral lymphoma; if it starts is the CNS is called primary CNS lymphoma.

So, if you want to find out more about non hodgkins lymphoma or even about mantle cell lymphoma please visit this link http://www.lymphoma-center.com

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