Mantle Cell Lymphoma – Symptoms, Prognosis, Treatment

Mantle Cell Lymphoma - Symptoms, Prognosis, Treatment

This article is about mantle cell lymphoma that is an aggressive variety of lymphoma which is typically located in the lymph nodes, spleen, marrow and blood. You can find the symptoms, prognosis and treatment of Mantle Cell Lymphoma below.

About 5 to 10% of people diagnosed with NHL have mantle cell lymphoma. It largely affects men who are over 50. Most typically it behaves aggressively and is extra challenging to treat than other indolent lymphomas.

What is mantle cell cancer?

Mantle cell lymphoma(MCL) is an uncommon sort of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

NonHodgkin lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system consists of branches spreads throughout the body, similar to the blood vessels that carry blood in the circulatory system. The lymphatic system carries a colorless liquid called lymph.

Lymph flows around the body tissues. It holds a large number of white blood cells (lymphocytes), which fight infection. Those who have lymphoma their white blood cells (lymphocytes) don’t work well. They divide regularly but don’t develop fully. So they are unable to fight infection as normal white blood cells do.

Mantle Cell Lymphoma - Symptoms, Prognosis, Treatment

There are two main kinds of lymphocytes – B cells and T cells. Mantle cell lymphoma affects the B-cells. The abnormal B lymphocytes thus collected in the lymph nodes or organs. They can then form tumors and begin to create  abnormality in the lymphatic system.

Mantle Cell lymphoma Stage and Grade

Specialists put non-Hodgkin lymphomas into 2 groups which depend on how speedily they develop and spread

  • Indolent (slow growing)
  • Aggressive (fast-growing)

The condition of the cells under the microscope helps doctors to determine the best treatment. Mantle cell lymphoma looks like an Indolent lymphoma under the microscope. But it often grows fast, more like an aggressive lymphoma. Unfortunately, it is usually widespread when it is diagnosed.

Mantle Cell Symptoms

The symptoms of mantle cell lymphoma are similar to those of most other types of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The most obvious symptom is

  • One or more painless swellings in the Neck, Armpit, Groin

Although, the lymphoma seldom spreads to the brain and spinal cord. This may produce many different symptoms, which might involve:

  • a headache, nausea, dizziness or poor balance
  • weakness or loss of sensation in part of the body
  • confusion, irritability or a change in personality.

Some areas that are usually affected by mantle cell lymphoma include:

  • bone marrow – this stop enough formation of normal blood cells which leads to
    • Anaemia
    • bruising or bleeding
  • bowel disorders such as diarrhea
  • spleen

Mantle Cell lymphoma Treatment

Treatment of mantle cell lymphoma can be similar to the treatment of other kinds of NHL. But it is a fast growing type of NHL and is usually diagnosed in the later stages of the disease so it is hard to cure. common treatment options used in Mantle Cell lymphoma are:

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the most general kind of treatment for people with mantle cell lymphoma. Chemotherapy drugs usually used are

  • Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (CHOP), sometimes combined with rituximab (Mabthera) to make R-CHOP
  • Fludarabine and cyclophosphamide
  • Cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisolone (CVP combination chemotherapy)
  • Chlorambucil

Bone Marrow Transplant

If you are healthy and under 65 years old you may have more intense chemotherapy. This may be R-CHOP alternating with rituximab (Mabthera) and high dose cytarabine which is followed by Bone Marrow transplant by using the own stem cells of the patient.

A Patient may also have high-dose chemotherapy and a Boner marrow transplant if the mantle cell lymphoma relapses after previous chemotherapy. High-dose chemotherapy raises the risk of complications, like infection, but provides the best possibility of curing the lymphoma.

Radiotherapy

In case of stage 1 or 2 mantle cell lymphoma, the patient may have radiotherapy as a treatment on its own. Or may have radiotherapy and chemotherapy collectively for advanced stages of the disease.

Steroid medical care

Steroids are elements made naturally in the body. They can also be manufactured artificially and used as drugs. Steroids are used for various purposes and for many different illnesses. In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, steroids are used with chemotherapy drugs. Doctors have observed that the treatment is more successful by using steroids and chemotherapy together. The common steroid drugs include

  • Dexamethasone
  • Prednisolone
  • Methylprednisolone

Biological Medical Care

There are various types of biological therapy. They act on processes in cancer cells. For example, they can alter the way cells signal to each other. Or they can spur the body to attack or control the growth of cancer cells. One of these drugs is rituximab. It is a type of monoclonal antibody.

There are no proven standards of treatment for Mantle Cell lymphoma, and there is no agreement between experts on how to treat it optimally. Many regimens are available and get the good response. Because of the aforementioned circumstance, many Mantle Cell lymphoma patients enroll in clinical trials to get the advanced treatments.

(1) Comments

  1. I’m an MCL patient and I’ve had 6 months of chemotherapy with Retuxin and Treanda and am in my 37th month of remission. Some of the symptoms have now returned; the sweats both night and day, loss of appetite, no energy, ongoing headache and some stomach discomfort. Previous CT’s with contrast had shown Lymph Node enlargement but the most recent one on July 5th does not as yet.
    Any information would be appreciated.

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