Non Hodgkins Large Cell Lymphoma mostly affects children in the age group of 7 to 11 years. This disease is also known to manifest any time between infancy and becoming an adult. Among the sexes, males are much more prone to this disease, and the ratio is, for every 1 female affected, there will be three males having the disease. Children of the Caucasian race are prone to this cancer, then any other race.
It is the large size of the cells that characterizes this type of cancer among the various non Hodgkins lymphomas. The Large Cell Lymphoma also can be classified into three types, which are Immunoblastic lymphoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma and non-specified large cell lymphoma. The T cells develop into Anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and B cells develop into the other two types. As non hodgkins large cell lymphoma, affects the system of the lymph tissues, the affectation will be in the area of chest, neck, throat and abdomen. If the spread of this disease is not checked in time, it will affect even the brain and bone marrow.
There are four stages to this disease, and each subsequent stage is considered more severe in terms of the spread of the disease. In stage 1, the tumour is in one location in the body. In stage 2 there are tumours in two or more locations, on one side of the body. When the tumours have spread to both sides, the disease has entered stage 3. In stage 4, the disease has affected the bone marrow. In this stage it can also affect the central nervous system. The last stage is further categorized by the severity of the affectation of the bone marrow and the number of cancer cells which are present.
Unfortunately, non hodgkins large cell lymphoma, progresses very quickly and by the time the symptoms are noticed, it is usually passed the second stage. In children where the abdominal area is affected you will find symptoms like loss of appetite, fever, constipation and pain in the abdomen. If the chest area is affected, children will get wheezing, cough, and pain while breathing deeply. The other symptoms which one can watch out for, are lymph node swellings which are painless, pain in the joints and bones, feeling of tiredness, heavy sweating at night, itching and sudden weight loss.
The treatment for non hodgkins large cell lymphoma, will depend on the age of the patient, the spread of the disease and the patient's tolerance to different curative procedures and medicines. Presently the main treatment given is chemotherapy, but it has a lot of side effects.
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