Starting induction therapy
If you’re having induction therapy for indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), you probably have more than one or two groups of affected lymph nodes, and will have started to experience NHL symptoms. This means you probably have advanced-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Although it is unlikely to cure you, induction treatment can help reduce your symptoms (give you a remission), as well as delaying the time at which your symptoms will come back (relapse). In general, around four out of five patients with symptomatic, advanced-stage, indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma experience a remission after their first course of treatment.
Most people who do experience relapses of their NHL can live successfully with the disease for a long time. Continuing on a treatment plan can help reduce your symptoms over the long term, and many people spend long periods of time in remission.
- If you were already experiencing symptoms when you were first diagnosed with indolent NHL, you will probably be starting induction treatment quite soon after your diagnosis.
- However, with indolent NHL, it is common not to experience symptoms straight away, so you may have been on a watch and wait strategy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in which treatment is delayed until your symptoms appear.
- In either case, if your doctor has decided that induction treatment is now the best course of action for you, here on Lymphoma Life you can find out more about what it involves, what to expect from your treatment visits for induction treatment, and how to cope with induction treatment and its side effects.
What is induction therapy?
Induction therapy works by killing cancerous cells
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is a type of cancer of your white blood cells (lymphocytes). So, by killing as many of the cancerous cells as possible, induction therapy can help reduce your symptoms so that you enter remission.
Remission is a period of time when you will feel relatively well and have far fewer symptoms than when your disease is active
Indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a chronic disease that is rarely cured. However, with treatment, most people can live with the disease successfully for many years and will spend long periods of this time in remission.
Induction therapy is usually given as a combination of immunotherapy plus chemotherapy
However, immunotherapy or chemotherapy can sometimes be given on their own. Your doctor will decide what kind of induction therapy is best for you based on your type of disease as well as your personal health and circumstances. You will also receive regular check ups after induction therapy to monitor your progress.
Find out about visiting the clinic for induction therapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
In some cases, your doctor might decide that after your induction therapy you can continue receiving immunotherapy as maintenance therapy
Continuing immunotherapy on its own after induction treatment has finished is called a maintenance course or maintenance treatment.
- The PRIMA study, conducted in Europe, and elsewhere, examines the benefit of maintenance treatment following induction therapy with immunochemotherapy in previously untreated patients. Results are expected in 2010.
- In the EU, maintenance therapy is currently licensed in relapsed follicular lymphoma.
Maintenance therapy for relapsed NHL therapy is given once every 3 months, after the induction therapy stage has finished. This means that you receive immunotherapy alone without any chemotherapy.
Find out about maintenance therapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy will help your body’s natural defence system – the immune system – to kill cancerous and non cancerous white blood cells
Immunotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) uses a molecule called a monoclonal antibody.
Antibodies occur naturally in our bodies as part of the immune system. They work by recognising invaders, such as bacteria or germs, and helping your body destroy them.
The monoclonal antibodies used for immunotherapy have been specially adapted in the laboratory to recognise and help kill only one type of white blood cells, the lymphocytes.
Immunotherapy for NHL does have some side effects but these are generally less severe than with chemotherapy and not everybody gets them
In other people, however, side effects can be more serious and this should be discussed with your doctor before you begin treatment. You can also find out more from the patient information leaflet that comes with your medication.
Find out more about immunotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Find out more about coping with induction therapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
There are many different types of chemotherapy, but they all work by killing rapidly growing cells
Each chemotherapy type is designed to work best for a specific type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Often, combinations of chemotherapy medicines are used at the same time, so that there is more chance they will kill all the diseased cells.
These are named with the initials of the different medicines in the combination.
Because chemotherapy kills all fast-growing cells, other healthy cells in your body can also be affected
Some healthy cells in your body, such as hair cells and the cells that line your stomach, also grow quite quickly. Because chemotherapy kills all fast-growing cells, it may also affect them as well as the lymphoma cells.
This explains some of the general side effects of chemotherapy such as hair loss and sickness. The side effects of chemotherapy can vary with different types of drugs and between different people. You should always discuss this in detail with your doctor before you start therapy.
Find out more detail about chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Find out more about coping with induction therapy and its side effects