Mantle cell lymphoma is a very rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Lymphocytes are your white blood cells; a lymphoma is a type of cancer that forms from your lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are located in your lymph nodes and in other areas of your body that comprise your immune system. Lymphoma cancers can easily spread to other areas of your body, and treatment varies depending on how advanced your cancer is.
Chemotherapy
Hair loss is a common chemotherapy side effect.
According to Cancer Care, a chemotherapeutic cocktail known as hyperVCAD may help with your treatment for mantle cell lymphoma. Four medications are used with hyperVCAD: cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and dexamethasone. The name "hyper" is short for hyperfractioned, which means you will be given the medications at shortened bursts to reduce the amount of severe side effects caused by the treatment. Chemotherapy can result in hair loss, nausea and vomiting, fatigue and muscle aches.
Radiation
Radiation machine
Radiation can help kill cancer cells. However, radiation for mantle cell therapy will not be the only form of treatment because lymphomas can occur everywhere within your body. You will be given what is known as a monoclonal antibody in conjunction with radiation. A monoclonal antibody is lab-created by a single cell to purposely seek out and destroy cancer cells.
Proteasome inhibitors
Your body contains proteasomes, which are protein complexes. A proteasome inhibitor is a medication that inhibits the growth of proteins that are necessary for cell development. When you're given a proteasome inhibitor, cancer cells are unable to grow and survive. According to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the FDA-approved proteasome inhibitor for mantle cell lymphoma is bortezomib.
Stem cell transplantation
Stem cell transplantation is considered an aggressive form of treatment. Stem cells can be removed from a sample of your own blood, or donor cells can be used for the procedure. According to the Mayo Clinic, prior to a stem cell transplantation, you will undergo what is known as conditioning. Conditioning means that you will receive either radiation or chemotherapy prior to the procedure to ensure that cancer cells have been destroyed.
Clinical trials
While treatments may help your lymphoma, it is common to develop a relapse. You can also develop treatment resistance, which means treatments that have already been used may not be effective anymore. There are clinical trials being conducted on mantle cell lymphoma that can introduce you to treatment methods that wouldn't be provided otherwise. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is currently conducting clinical trials on treatments using bortezomib in conjunction with other combination chemotherapeutic treatments to help combat mantle cell lymphoma.
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