How can cancer be treated? This is the most frequent question in medical research. New treatments are tested on patients under close observation of medical squads. It's a hard work for researchers who have to determine an optimal dose of the treatment for each patient, to guarantee them the lack of side effects but especially a chance of survival.



Researchers also talk about a breast cancer study that proved the benefic effect of chemotherapy tested right after a surgical intervention. Positive results encouraged researchers to move on to another type of cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, believing that appropriate treatment and observation can lead to a possible curing.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, meaning cancers of lymph glands, occurs around the older people, about the age of 60, but it can be discovered at almost any age. It's one of the most common types of lymphoma, the number of cases increasing from a year to another.

Chemotherapy could mean a chance for staying alive because its drugs have a faster and more active effect over rapidly growing cells.

The treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can be different from a patient to another depending especially on the stage of the disease. In early stages chemotherapy and radiation therapy could be enough for a fast curing. This can't be told for the most of the patients who need special treatment and attentively observation for at least four months.

Curing this type of cancer is not the biggest problem. The real problem is treatment that in most of the cases is delayed. This fact can compromise patient's health and survival chances.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma under-treatment is found at old patients, patients with high stage of disease, or underfed patients who often reduce medication or skip treatment.

Inappropriate treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is surely caused by the possible side-effects that can result during chemotherapy, or drug administration. Therefore, initial, the dose is reduced and after a good observation the treatment is changed for the patients who tolerate it.

Reducing treatment could mean as well for patients suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma a comeback of the disease in a few years or even months.

An appropriate treatment is needed in every single case despite the age of the patient or his stage of disease, more than that these patients need a higher attention, a closer observation to lead to an optimal treatment.

Supportive care is what non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients need to go through the full program without treatment delay or without dose reduction.

Optimizing the treatment should be the first thing for a doctor to have in mind when it comes to a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient and it should be a no side effects selection.