Lymphoma Treatment
MD Anderson’s Lymphoma & Myeloma Center handles more than 35,000 patient visits each year, making it one of the nation’s most active programs in the world. The doctors, nurses and advanced practice providers at the center specialize only in lymphoma and myeloma. Our physicians use this experience to design a treatment plan specifically for you and your disease.
These treatments options include the most advanced therapies, such as proton therapy and CAR T cell therapy. Through our wide range of clinical trials, patients also have access to many treatments that are not available anywhere else.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells, control their growth or relieve disease-related symptoms. Chemotherapy may involve a single drug or a combination of two or more drugs, depending on the type of cancer and how fast it is growing.
Learn more about chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses powerful, focused beams of energy to kill cancer cells. There are several different radiation therapy techniques. Doctors can use these to accurately target a tumor while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.
Radiation therapy may be used in early-stage lymphoma or to help symptoms such as pain. It is seldom the only treatment given.
Learn more about radiation therapy.
Proton therapy
Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy. It is similar to traditional radiation therapy, but it uses a different type of energy that may allow doctors to target tumors with much more accuracy. This limits damage to nearby healthy tissue and allows for the delivery of a more powerful dose of radiation.
Learn more about proton therapy and how it is used to treat lymphoma.
Immunotherapy
The immune system finds and defends the body from infection and disease. Cancer is a complex disease that can evade and outsmart the immune system. Immunotherapy improves the immune system’s ability to eliminate cancer.
Learn more about immunotherapy.
Lymphoma can be treated with different types of immunotherapy. These include:
Immune checkpoint inhibitors: Immune checkpoint inhibitors stop the immune system from turning off before cancer is completely eliminated. They help cancer-fighting immune cells, called T cells, mount a longer-lasting response against the disease. Learn more about immune checkpoint inhibitors.
CAR T cell therapy: T cells are immune system cells that help the immune system respond to disease and directly kill diseased cells. In Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, T cells are modified so they can recognize and attack cancer cells. Through clinical trials, CAR T cell therapy is used to treat all different types of lymphoma. It is FDA-approved to treat certain kinds of B-cell lymphoma, a sub-type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Learn more about CAR T cell therapy.
Immune modulators: Immune modulators modify the environment of tumor cells, making it easier for the immune system to kill cancer.
Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy drugs are designed to stop or slow the growth or spread of cancer. This happens on a cellular level. Cancer cells need specific molecules (often in the form of proteins) to survive, multiply and spread. These molecules are usually made by the genes that cause cancer, as well as the cells themselves. Targeted therapies are designed to interfere with, or target, these molecules or the cancer-causing genes that create them.
Learn more about targeted therapy.
Stem cell transplantation
A stem cell transplant (also known as a bone marrow transplant) is a procedure that replaces cancerous bone marrow with new, healthy bone marrow stem cells. Depending on the cancer, the healthy stem cells can come from a donor or from the patient. Stem cell transplants are usually given after an intense round of chemotherapy that kills the patient’s existing bone marrow cells. Patients typically must stay in the hospital for three to four weeks after the transplant.
Stem cell transplants may be used to treat some types of lymphoma.
Learn more about stem cell transplants.
Clinical trials
Clinical trials are a key component of MD Anderson's mission to end cancer. MD Anderson uses clinical trials to find better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. Doctors use treatment trials to learn more about how to fight cancer.
Your doctor may offer you a clinical trial as a treatment option.
Learn more about clinical trials.
Active surveillance
This approach involves closely monitoring some types of lymphoma without active treatment. This may be appropriate for some patients with or indolent, or low-grade, lymphomas.
Some types of lymphoma can be passed down from one generation to the next. Genetic counseling may be right for you. Visit our genetic testing page to learn more.
