New lymphoma treatments offer some hope

When Dr. Thomas Miller, a hematologist and oncologist from the Arizona Cancer Center, spoke about lymphoma at the West Center on Tuesday, he asked the audience of about 85 how many had or knew someone close with lymphoma.

More than half the hands went up.

When he came to the center 32 years ago he said cancer and lymphoma research was “quite primitive.”

Giving an easy-to-understand explanation of this kind of cancer, Miller said lymphoma is cancer of certain types of white blood cells called lymphocytes.

The cells circulate throughout the bloodstream in the lymph system, which is part of the body’s immune system.

“White blood cells are larger than red blood cells but there are fewer of them. There’s one white blood cell for every 600 red ones,” Miller said, explaining that the lymph system is a network of vessels and organs that produce, store and transport lymph throughout the body.

The vessels connect to lymph nodes, which filter out harmful substances.

“CT scans now replace previous lengthy tests. Chemotherapy kills proliferating, dividing cells. New drugs prevent growth. Each type of cancer has unique cells that need to be targeted,” Miller told the audience.

During a slide presentation, he said, “By the time you have a one-inch diameter tumor, you have a one with ten zeroes — 10,000,000,000 — cells in that tumor. As the tumor grows, cells within the tumor become different cancers.”

Lymphoma is the fifth most common cancer in women and sixth most common in men.

The type of lymphoma a patient gets — follicular, diffuse, small cell or large cell — is diagnosed by biopsy, which not only diagnoses but probes cells for the type of therapy.

Miller said there’s a 15 percent difference in longevity between Stage I vs. Stage II patients.

“Younger patients do better than older patients... for those with zero risk factors the five-year longevity rate is 92 percent.

“Those with one risk factor have a longevity rate of 67 percent vs. those with two risk factors whose five-year longevity is 62 percent.”

Showing a detailed longevity-factor slide based on studies and research at Stanford University, Miller said, “My goal is to beat Stanford every day.”

He compared Stanford’s data with that of the Southwest Oncology Group that showed a four-year survival of 69, 79 and 91 percent based on three different treatments.

“Good treatments are available. The best treatment is a clinical trial,” Miller said.

In responding to questions from the audience, he explained that Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is more common in younger patients... those in their 20s and 30s... and in very aggressive tumors, if a tumor is going to reappear it tends to reappear early after treatment.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.

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