Today, September 15, we celebrate World Lymphoma Awareness Day. Lymphomas are malignant diseases whose tumor cells originate from the lymphatic system. It is a disease related to leukemia, and it is also caused by a malignant change of lymphocytes and their uncontrolled multiplication. Lymphoma can develop slowly (indolent) or it can be aggressive. According to the type of tumor cells, they can be divided into two main (and very different) subgroups, Hodgkin’s (HL) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) (although in some classifications, multiple myeloma and immunoproliferative diseases are also included here). There are over 50 different types of lymphoma, almost 90% of which are from the NHL group. Considering that lymphomas arise in the lymph nodes, one of the main symptoms is their increase. In addition, symptoms such as a temperature higher than 38°C without a known cause, night sweats, weight loss, malaise, cough and chest pain and skin itching are also characteristic. For successful treatment of lymphoma, it is necessary to diagnose the exact type of disease and determine the stage (I to IV). When choosing the type of treatment, the specialist hematologist takes into account the already mentioned type and stage of the disease, as well as the age and general condition of the affected person. As already mentioned, the most common treatment includes chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation, but sometimes immunotherapy, radiation and, very rarely, surgical treatment also have their place. We wish people who are fighting this malignant disease a lot of strength and a successful recovery, and one of the ways to help sick people is to register in the Croatian Register of Voluntary Donors of Hematopoietic Stem Cells, in addition to actions organized by the Ana Rukavina Foundation and in 8 transfusion centers Zagreb, Osijek , Rijeka, Pula, Split, Zadar, Varaždin and Dubrovnik.
