30 Aug Treat Hodgkin’s Disease Symptoms with Stem Cell Therapy
Hodgkin’s disease is a form of cancer that affects a patient’s immune response through the lymphatic system. The lymph cells become cancerous and divide too frequently, forming tumors in the lymph nodes that can spread through the body. Chemotherapy and radiation are generally the only two options a person has to treat this cancer. However, stem cells are being studied as a treatment as well. They may be able to transplant healthy bone marrow into a patient to stop the progression of the disease and eliminate cancerous cells in the body.
What is Hodgkin’s Disease?
Hodgkin’s lymphoma was formerly known as Hodgkin’s disease. It is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of your immune system. It may affect people of any age but is most common in people between 20 and 40 years old and those over 55. In Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cells in the lymphatic system grow abnormally and may spread beyond common lymph nodes. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of two common types of cancers of the lymphatic system. The other type, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is far more common. Advances in diagnosis and treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma have helped give people with this disease a chance for a full recovery.
The prognosis continues to improve for people with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Doctors aren’t sure what causes Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but it begins when an infection-fighting cell called a lymphocyte develops a genetic mutation. The mutation tells the cell to multiply rapidly, causing many diseased cells that continue increasing. The mutation causes a large number of oversized, abnormal lymphocytes to accumulate in the lymphatic system, where they crowd out healthy cells and cause the signs and symptoms of Hodgkin’s lymphoma like swelling of the lymph nodes that may be tumors. Various types of Hodgkin’s lymphoma exist, and your diagnosis will be based on the types of cells involved in your disease and their behavior.
The type of lymphoma you are diagnosed with determines your treatment options. Classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the more common type of this disease. People diagnosed with this disease have large, abnormal cells called Reed-Sternberg cells in their lymph nodes. This much rarer type of Hodgkin’s lymphoma involves large, abnormal cells that are sometimes called popcorn cells because of their appearance. Treatment may be different from the classical type. People with this type of Hodgkin’s lymphoma may have a better chance of a cure when the disease is diagnosed at an early stage. Risk factors for the disease include genetics, age, gender, and past Epstein-Barr infection. Chemotherapy is a standard treatment method to cure Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
How Can Hodgkin’s Disease Symptoms Be Treated With Stem Cell Therapy?
Some patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma may beat the disease, only to have it relapse. When chemotherapy is not responding, or treatment needs to be done alongside chemotherapy, stem cell transplants are used. Replacing the damaged and cancerous bone marrow with healthy stem cell bone marrow can potentially treat Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Treating Hodgkin’s lymphoma with chemotherapy alongside stem cell therapy has been shown to improve survival and remission rates. More studies need to be done to confirm the efficacy of this treatment, but clinical studies have been promising.
No Comments