The goal of treatment is to bring about complete remission, which is the total absence of any signs or symptoms of the disease. The type of treatment depends on the stage of the cancer.
The main treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma are chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy regimens require that a person take a combination of different anticancer medications commonly used to treat Hodgkin lymphoma. Chemotherapy treatment may last 3 to 6 months, with cycles of medication followed by periods of no medication for the body to recover. Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams of invisible particles to penetrate the body and destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy takes place over several weeks. Depending on the stage of disease, treatment consists of chemotherapy alone or a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
If a relapse occurs after chemotherapy treatment, then it will be treated again. The treatment method will depend on where the cancer is and what treatment options were used when the cancer was last treated. Higher doses of anticancer medication may be used, and this treatment may be combined with radiation.
In cases where the cancer returns, an autologous bone marrow transplant (in which a person's own bone marrow is removed before chemotherapy and then replaced afterwards) is often done so that the body can handle larger doses of anticancer medications. Because it is autologous, that is, one's own bone marrow is replaced, there is no risk of rejection or need to take transplant medications as one might for allogeneic transplants (i.e., from another donor).
When Hodgkin lymphoma is discovered at an early stage, the cure rate is very high – up to 90% of cases.
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