Lymphoma survival rate

lymphoma survival rate

To have a clear prediction about any lymphoma survival rate, you first need to know the exact type of lymphoma the patient is diagnosed with.

To be sure which type of lymphoma you are dealing with, the patient needs to undergo a biopsy. This will be examined by a pathologist to give the right classification of the lymphoma. Only then a prognosis about the lymphoma life expectancy can be made.

Some lymphoma diseases are very slow growing and rarely cause symptoms. Small lymphocytic lymphoma for example will most likely not reduce the patients life expectancy, even without treatment.

Other lymphoma diseases are totally the opposite. The aggressive lymphomas normally cause a rapid deterioration and death when not treated.

Hodgkins lymphoma cancer survival rate

Hodgkins lymphoma survival rate is generally around 90% when the lymphoma cancer is detected early.

Recent lymphoma trials even show five-year survival rates (i.e. patients being still alive five years after their diagnosis) up to 98% for patients in earlier stages.

The full remission rate (i.e. lymphoma treatments that cure the patient) :

for lymphoma cancer stages I and II is 85 – 90%
for lymphoma cancer stages III and IV is 80%.

This makes Hodgkins lymphoma cancer one of the more curable forms of cancer. Most patients treated for Hodgkins lymphoma are cured and live normal and healthy, long lives.

Non Hodgkins lymphoma cancer survival rate

The most common type of lymphoma is called Hodgkins disease. Every other lymphoma cancer is grouped together as "non Hodgkins lymphoma cancer" or NHL in short.

Five-year lymphoma survival rates for NHL range from 20% to 95% depending on the lymphoma type, stage, age of the patient, and other variables.

Unfortunately dividing lymphomas in ‘Hodgkins and non Hodgkins’ is as similar as dividing things in ‘fruits and non fruits’. Non
fruits can be anything from houses to dogs, and equally different are the so called non Hodgkins lymphoma cancers.

Non Hodgkins lymphoma cancers need to be classified after doing a biopsy on the cancer. Normally the patient will also undergo:

a complete blood count (CBC) test,
a platelet count,
a lumbar puncture or so called spinal tap and
taking a small sample of bone marrow.

The classification is based on the aggressiveness of the lymphoma cancer:

less aggressive non Hodgkin lymphoma cancer could be a chronic disease which exist for many years
more aggressive non Hodgkin lymphomas could be rapidly fatal without lymphoma cancer treatments.

Indolent (Low-Grade, very slow-growing) Lymphoma survival rate

Follicular lymphoma

Follicular lymphoma is the most common of the indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.

Survival is around 10 years, but the range is wide, from less than one year, to more than 20 years. Some patients may never need treatment.

Although potentially curable in early stages I and II, these slow-growing malignancies mostly get diagnosed in advanced stages. In most cases the lymphomas have spread to other sites like the spleen and bone marrow.

In advanced stages, these follicular lymphoma cancers are hard to cure. When the lymphoma cancer treatment achieves a response, the tumors almost always recur. After relapse, this type of lymphoma cancer is re-treatable when they keep on growing very slowly.

The average survival rate for indolent lymphomas is 5 to 15 years, depending on other risk factors.

The most common age group however are elderly patients and because of the long prognosis, lymphoma cancer treatment may not even be necessary for indolent lymphomas diagnosed in advanced stages.

Six risk factors are meaningful for predicting the indolent lymphoma survival rate:

being male

being older

having stage III or IV disease

elevated levels of the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
presence of B symptoms

erythrocyte sedimentation rate over 30.

Patients with none or 1 of the above factors have a 65% chance for survival rates of 10 years or more.
Patients with 2 of the above factors have a 23% chance for survival rates of 10 years or more.
Patients with 3 or more of the above factors have an 11% chance for survival rates of 10 years or more.

MALT lymphoma

MALT lymphoma is a form of lymphoma involving the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT).

MALT lymphomas generally have a good lymphoma survival rate. If the MALT lymphoma is limited to the stomach then 70-80% of patients will have a complete regression using lymphoma treatment with antibiotics.

Other MALT lymphomas may be effectively controlled using radiotherapy, surgery or chemotherapy.

Primary gastric lymphoma

Primary gastric lymphomas have a three-year survival rate of 89%.

Outlook for Aggressive (Intermediate- to High-Grade) Lymphomas

Diffuse large-cell lymphomas are the most common aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. These aggressive lymphomas are often curable with aggressive chemotherapy combinations.

When relapse occurs after chemotherapy, it usually does so within two years.

Five-year lymphoma survival rates average between 50% to 60% but in one study of children with NHL in the bone: five-year lymphoma survival rates were as high as 92%.

Predicting the survival rate of patients with most aggressive B-cell lymphomas depends on the following five risk factors:

age over 60 years
the lymphoma is classified as Stage III or Stage IV
the lymphoma has spread to more than one site outside the lymph nodes
high levels of lactate dehydrogenase (an enzyme used to measure tumor burden)
poor general health

The more of the above risk factors the patient scores, the lower his lymphoma survival rate will be.

a score of 0 or 1 is associated with a 70% rate of disease-free survival at the end of five years and an overall survival rate of 73% at the end of five years
a score of 5 is associated with five-year rates of 40% disease-free survival and 26% overall survival respectively.

Anaplastic large cell lymphoma

Anaplastic large cell lymphomas have overall a better prognosis than other "aggressive lymphomas":

ALK+ 5-year survival 70-80% (ALK stands for anaplastic lymphoma kinase)
ALK- 5-year survival 30-50%

During the patient’s anaplastic large cell lymphoma treatment, relapses may occur but these remain sensitive to new chemotherapy treatments.

Mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma is less responsive to chemotherapy, and average survival time is three to five years.