Unfortunately, due to the deterioration of the environmental situation, patients with cancer become more and more every day. There are a lot of types of malignant tumors . They are able to develop in different organs, disrupting their normal functioning. In medicine, there is such a thing as a mediastinum. It combines all the organs that are located in the chest. Recently, a fairly frequent oncological disease is mediastinal lymphoma. What is this neoplasm? What are the causes of its occurrence, symptoms and prognoses?
As with any cancerous tumors, lymphoma is divided into certain types, has several stages of development. Depending on the severity of the lesion, doctors are developing a special treatment technique. General forecasts, unfortunately, are not at all comforting - it all depends on the timely diagnosis of lymphoma. The sooner a diagnosis is made, the greater the chance of recovery. The state of remission in patients can last from 2 years or more. However, you need to understand that at this time the disease does not disappear, therefore, it is recommended that all the appointments of the attending physician be carried out in accuracy to minimize the risk of recurrence of relapses.
Mediastinal lymphoma: what is it?
Of course, it is very difficult for an ordinary person to understand medical terminology, so we will try to explain everything in a simple language.
Lymphoma is a cancerous tumor that has a malignant form. It develops in the lymphatic system, because of this, the lesion focus can be localized anywhere. In this case, a mediastinal tumor affects organs, the border of which on the one side is the chest, and on the other, the spine.
This disease is characterized by uncontrolled cell division. After mutation, they become immortal, which leads to their accumulation and the formation of a tumor. Since the lymphatic system consists of many glands and blood vessels that are associated with all organs, the neoplasm, rapidly developing, freely spreads throughout the body, while forming new focal centers.
In case of untimely appeal to medical institutions, the patient will die. If certain symptoms are detected, the patient is prescribed a series of tests and an examination is performed, during which computed tomography is most often used.
It is worth noting that even after confirming the diagnosis, in no case should you give up and stop fighting for life.
Classification
The names of cancerous tumors, as a rule, are generalizing in nature. Each of them is divided into several types and groups. First of all, primary and secondary tumors are isolated. The first type of neoplasm develops from the tissues of the organ, the second includes metastases.
Let's try to understand the diagnosis of "Mediastinal lymphoma." What does this mean? This type of cancer is also called lymphadenopathy. The division into groups occurs according to the type of tissue from which it was formed. This may be the thymus gland, heart, pleura, and so on.
Symptoms of the disease
Symptoms of mediastinal lymphoma are very similar to other types of malignant tumors. This is weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath. However, there are also symptoms that are characteristic only of this disease. First of all, this is the appearance of swelling in those places where the lymph nodes are located: under the cheekbones (on the neck), in the groin, in the armpits or on the stomach. Such swelling is not accompanied by painful sensations.
Symptoms of mediastinal lymphoma are often expressed by a sharp decrease in weight. Since the lymphatic system protects the body from various infections, a violation in its work can lead to slight temperature increases of 37-37.5 degrees. Many patients at night have a profuse sweating.
Important factors
In the fight against lymphoma, the following factors influence a positive result:
- Age category of patients. The older the person, the more complications he appears during the treatment.
- Stage of mediastinal lymphoma, in which the disease was detected.
- The size of the tumor and its localization.
- Stability of the immune system.
- The number of lesions with metastases.
Observing the dynamics of the disease for 10 years, scientists concluded that large-cell lymphoma found in the early stages gives a 90% chance of survival to patients, but with the development of metastasis, this indicator drops sharply to 20%.
At risk are not only middle-aged people, but also those who have suffered other types of cancer, in particular, the use of chemotherapy. Also, lymphoma is most often diagnosed in those who are in close contact with various harmful substances, for example, pesticides.
Diagnosis
A positive result of treatment depends not only on the timely detection of the tumor, but also on the competent determination of its type. Only after this can we talk about drug intervention.
Suspicion of lymphoma may occur at the doctor's preventive examination. In this case, the specialist prescribes an additional examination. At the moment, the most effective is computed tomography. Thanks to it, you can carefully examine the tumor, see the foci of inflammation. A biopsy is also recommended. This procedure will allow you to determine the type of lymphoma with 100% accuracy.
If the suspicions of the doctors were confirmed, then you need to pass a puncture of the spinal cord. This analysis will show how widespread the disease is. Radiography of the lungs, scintigraphy and abdominal ultrasound are also recommended.
A prerequisite for establishing a diagnosis is the delivery of a detailed blood test. According to the amount of lactate dehydrogenase contained in it, doctors determine the degree of progressive development of the tumor.
Stage lymphoma
All oncological diseases are divided into stages that characterize the degree of development of the tumor and its features. This classification is considered the generally accepted terminology of the ongoing process. The first two are local, the rest are common. If the disease proceeds without symptoms, then add the letter A to the number, with fever, weight loss, sweating - the letter B.
Stage of lymphoma:
- The first stage (I) is the defeat of only one area of ββthe lymph nodes.
- The second stage of mediastinal (II) lymphoma - spreads to other areas, but is limited to only one side of the diaphragm.
- The third stage (III) - localization increases, both sides of the diaphragm are involved.
- The fourth stage (IV) is the spread of metastases throughout the body. "X" is added to the figure for a massive lesion of the lymph nodes.
Methods of modern treatment
Fortunately, cancer research does not stand still. Scientists all over the world combine their knowledge to find the most effective ways to deal with these tumors. Mediastinal lymphoma (treatment described below) is a very serious disease that can lead to death.
Therefore, after confirming the diagnosis, in no case should you neglect the recommendations of a doctor. So, we will learn how to deal with lymphoma.
Chemotherapy
The most common method used to treat cancer is chemotherapy. Apply such medications as Vinblastine, Doxorubicin, Dacarbazine and others. These medicines are a kind of poison that kills cancer cells. However, such treatment has many side effects, since the destruction of the tumor does not occur locally, but in large quantities, therefore there is a great risk of disruption of the functioning of healthy organs. The results of this treatment are largely dependent on the immune system and its resistance. If the body is strong, then the chances of recovery are greatly increased.
The advantage of chemotherapy is the effect on all lesions, even those that have not been diagnosed. If a mediastinal tumor is diagnosed in stage IV, then other methods of treatment do not exist.
CRT
Electron-radiation therapy was one of the first to be used in the treatment of lymphoma. Now it is often combined with chemotherapy. This type of treatment is prescribed with the exact determination of the stage of the disease and the location of the focus. As a rule, even with a progressive tumor, radiation is prescribed no more than 4 times a week, the dosage does not exceed 6 gray. The advantage of this treatment is the penetration of rays under the skin to a depth of 20 mm.
It is worth noting that in other ways it is impossible to achieve such results. However, CRT has side effects:
- atrophy of the skin;
- complete or partial hair loss;
- dry skin
- severe inflammatory processes (dermatitis).
A single course of irradiation during electro-radiation therapy should not exceed 40 gray.
Biological therapy
This method is the most gentle. For the development of drugs, certain cells of the patient are taken. Such treatment allows you to maximize the body's resistance and at the same time activate its protective reaction. This method is currently the most effective in the fight against malignant tumors such as lymphoma. A blood test or ultrasound can accurately determine the weaknesses in the patient's body.
The main advantage of biological therapy is that blood vessels, which are its main source of nutrition, cease to form in the tumor.
Bone marrow transplantation
This method of treatment is quite effective, however, the preparation process itself with subsequent rehabilitation over a time period is very large. It is worth noting that not all clinics are engaged in bone marrow transplantation, so this procedure is quite expensive. Active chemotherapy is also used during preparation to destroy all cancer cells.
Surgery
Surgical mediastinal lymphoma - what is it? The surgical method is used extremely rarely. It is not basic and can be used in combination with other treatments. Surgical intervention is possible only in the early stages, since after the spread of metastasis, this method becomes ineffective. As a rule, it is used when it is necessary to take tumor cells to conduct their research (biopsy).
T lymphoma
According to the degree of malignancy, t-cell lymphomas are divided into low, medium and high.
Causes of occurrence:
- the effect of t-cell leukemia (HTLV-1);
- disruption of the immune system;
- heredity;
- pathology of cells at the DNA level.
Stages of development of t-lymphoma:
- Π - minor spots appear on the skin.
- ΠΠ - the number of affected areas becomes larger, but without an increase in lymph nodes.
- ΠΠ - swelling is formed.
- III - inflammatory processes on the skin appear.
- IV - a cancerous tumor spreads to the internal organs.
Prognosis of mediastinal lymphoma
It is almost impossible to draw unambiguous conclusions in a disease such as mediastinal lymphoma (prognosis of treatment and survival), since much depends on various factors. For instance:
- the individuality of the body;
- age;
- stage of the disease;
- degree of damage;
- state of the immune system.
A reliable fact is that with non-aggressive forms of the disease, almost 90% of patients recover, but when lymphoma is at stage IV, there is practically no chance of introducing the disease into remission.