Master Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Assessment with Picmonic for Nursing RN

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a lymphatic cancer, meaning that the cancerous cells originate in white blood cells (lymphocytes) in lymphoid tissue throughout the body. The lymphocytes in various stages of development may mimic a leukemia. The term non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma includes all lymph node cancers that do not have Reed-Sternberg cells.

Cancerous lymph nodes are non-contiguous in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, meaning that they are not next to each other.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be classified according to the cells from which it originates, such as B and/or T cells. Other categories of classification include level of differentiation and rate of cell growth/division.

Patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma may experience lymphadenopathy or swelling of the lymph nodes. The enlarged lymph nodes are painless and may be made worse by drinking alcohol.

The term ‘B symptoms’ refers to a group of symptoms, usually indicating a poor prognosis. These constitutional symptoms may also be the first sign of disease in patients.

Night sweats are another example of a B symptom, usually indicating a poor prognosis.

Fever is classified as a B symptom, and typically indicates that the patient has a high-grade lymphoma.

Weight loss is also classified as a B symptom, indicating an advanced stage of the disease.

In patients with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, mediastinal or abdominal masses may be present.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma tends to be more common in men, especially those over the age of 50.

There are more than 60 different subtypes of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.