Lymphoma
... often experience chills, night sweats, fever, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue. The one symptom that catches a person’s curiosity is the painless swelling of a lymph node; often found on the neck or the underarm. For example, a lymph node on a person’s neck might swell up, but does not cause any pain and remains swollen for many months. This is when the person would seek help from a doctor. I personally experienced fatigue and the painless swelling of lymph nodes when I was diagnosed with this cancer. Researches have yet to understand who is at a higher risk for developing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (2,3). It attacks a wide variety of people from men to women, from young to old. “The American Cancer Society predicts that there will be about 56,390 new cases of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in this country in 2005.”(3) Researchers have not been able to discover a way to prevent Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Though, people who have a history of cancer in their family, are routinely exposed to chemicals, has the Epstein-Barr virus, tend to be at higher risk. Also, white people are more likely to develop this cancer than African-American’s or Asian-American’s, with men being more susceptible then women. There is no cure for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (4, 22). There are however, many different treatments that allow a patient to be in a remission period for several months or even years. Chemotherapy, Radiation, and Biological Therapy are just three optional treatments. There are also many different clinical trials that patients can decide to use. Thes...