Experts have finished China's first guidelines to diagnose and
treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which will be issued to doctors
nationwide.
"These guidelines were written by 19 domestic leading tumor
experts, who consulted guidance issued by the National
Comprehensive Cancer Network in the United States and made
adjustments based on Chinese conditions," said Dr Shen Zhixiang,
director of Ruijin Hospital's hematology department and vice
director of Shanghai Hematology Institute. "The new guidelines
regulate the whole process of diagnosis and treatment. All steps
are supported by medical evidence."
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma originates in the lymphatic system, the
disease-fighting network throughout the body. These tumors can
occur at different locations.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is more than seven times as common as the
other general type of lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease. It's one of the
most rapidly increasing types of cancer in the world. China has
45,000 new patients each year, and 20,000 die of the disease every
year.
Its incidence has increased globally by 70 percent since the
1970s. Currently there are one million people with the disease
worldwide, with 360,000 deaths a year.
Its most common symptom is a persistent swelling of lymph nodes
anywhere in the body. Other symptoms may include an enlarged liver
or spleen, chest pain, shortness of breath, generalized fatigue,
drenching night sweats, and loss of appetite, experts said.
(Shanghai Daily September 20, 2007)