How is lymphoma treated?

Some lymphomas grow slowly and may be monitored closely before treatment is needed. Others need treatment soon. Chemotherapy uses medicines that travel through the bloodstream, while immunotherapy helps the immune system recognise or attack lymphoma cells. Radiotherapy directs radiation at a defined area and may be useful when disease is localised or causing pressure symptoms.

A PET-CT scan can help show where lymphoma is active and how it responds. If lymphoma returns or does not respond as hoped, specialists may consider high-dose treatment followed by an autologous stem cell transplant, or CAR T-cell therapy for selected types. The choice depends on the lymphoma subtype, earlier treatments and your fitness for treatment.

Your oncology team may review biopsy findings, blood tests and scan results before recommending a sequence. Ask which aim applies to each treatment, how it will be delivered, and which side effects should be reported promptly. Keep a record of medicines, temperature readings and new symptoms. Unexplained fever or weight loss should be shared with the treating team, especially before or during therapy.

Contact your cancer team urgently for a fever, shaking chills, sudden breathlessness, confusion, uncontrolled vomiting, or bleeding that does not settle. Seek emergency care for severe breathing difficulty, chest pain, fainting or a rapidly worsening condition. Treatment can lower blood-cell counts, so your team may give you a specific temperature threshold and emergency number.

Which lymphoma subtype do I have, and what do my scans show? What is the purpose and order of the proposed treatments? How might treatment affect infection risk, fertility, work and daily activities? Would a transplant or CAR T-cell therapy be relevant now or later?