Lymphoma
Patients and families affected by lymphoma have great cause for optimism. Cure rates for some types of lymphoma, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma, are as high as 70 to 80 percent. Some variants of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas can be cured in up to 60 percent of patients. Plus, new novel therapies and approaches--many available at the University of Chicago Hospitals--offer hope for patients with lymphomas that do not respond well to traditional treatments.
For Jim Cunningham, a rare allergic reaction complicated lymphoma treatment. University of Chicago oncologists uncovered the source of the problem and customized a treatment plan to save Jim's life. »Read Jim's storyOur physicians provide comprehensive care for adults with lymphoma--including diagnostic tests, chemotherapy, and follow-up care. They are also testing the latest targeted therapies for lymphomas and trying to find ways to make traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy, more effective.
Because we are an academic medical center, our patients have access to many treatments that are not commonly available elsewhere.
Stem Cell Transplants
We take a fairly aggressive approach to lymphomas that have come back after initial treatment, and consider stem cell transplantation whenever it would be appropriate for a patient. Autologous transplant--using the patient's own stem cells--can cure about 40 percent of patients with relapsed aggressive lymphomas. We also offer more aggressive approaches to stem cell transplantation, such as allogeneic unrelated donor transplants, and cord blood transplants.
Novel Drug Therapies
Many of our physicians are nationally renowned for their research and clinical expertise. As a result, our lymphoma program is commonly among the first in the country to test new experimental lymphoma drugs via clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute or pharmaceutical companies. This means that our patients often have access to promising drugs not available elsewhere in the Chicago area. Revolutionary drug therapies tested here include:
- Targeted therapies, such as radioimmunotherapy, that attack specific cancer pathways, leaving healthy cells unharmed
- New chemotherapy agents that may cause fewer side effects and offer hope for lymphomas that have not responded to standard treatments
