Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Your doctor may prescribe medicines that will affect the growth of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and relieve your symptoms.

Chemotherapy

Reference Chemotherapy Opens New Window may be used alone or with radiation therapy. Sometimes a combination of chemotherapy medicines is more effective than a single drug.

The most commonly used combination is called CHOP. It combines four medicines: Reference cyclophosphamide, Reference doxorubicin, Reference vincristine, and Reference prednisone.

Your doctor will work with you to find the best medicine for the type of lymphoma you have.

Chemotherapy causes many side effects. For help with how to deal with these, see Reference Home Treatment. Your doctor may prescribe Reference medicines to control nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.

Monoclonal antibodies

Reference Targeted therapy Opens New Window uses Reference monoclonal antibodies Opens New Window in medicine that is injected into the body so these antibodies can attach to cancer cells and destroy them. The monoclonal antibodies used to treat NHL include:

• Rituximab (Rituxan).
• Alemtuzumab (Campath).
• Ibritumomab (Zevalin).
• Tositumomab (Bexxar).

Other medicines

Some treatments use Reference interferon Opens New Window or Reference antibiotic medicines Opens New Window. Your doctor will suggest the treatment that works best for your kind of lymphoma.

What to think about

You may not be able to become pregnant or father a child after chemotherapy treatment. Discuss fertility issues with your doctor before starting treatment. Chemotherapy medicines can also cause birth defects. If you are pregnant or wish to father a child, discuss the risk of birth defects with your doctor before using any chemotherapy medicine.

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This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Reference Terms of Use. Reference How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.