MY Cancer

I figured it might be a good idea to do a post about my specific type of cancer, as there are so many different types of lymphomas that anyone doing a search for blogs, may or may not be interested in my blog specifically because of the type I have/don't have.

As mentioned in the subtopic of TOSOTN, I was diagnosed with a T-cell Large Cell Lymphoma. More specifically, it's a non-Hodgkin's anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL).  The original diagnosis states: "findings are those of focal lymph node involvement by peripheral T cell lymphoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, CD30 positive, ALK1 positive subtype."

ALCL represents approximately only 5% of non Hodgkin's lymphomas in adults, and only approximately 60% of those are ALK+!!
Suffice it to say, of all cancer cases, there's only about 1.5 people out of 100 that are diagnosed with my specific type of cancer!!

According to one site I found, ALK+ ALCL presents as an aggressive disease with systemic signs, and extra nodal sites in the bone marrow (the bone marrow biopsy is a topic I could write a whole post on all on it's own!), skin, bone, soft tissues, and organs. Luckily, according to all the diagnostic tests I've had since my cancer diagnosis, I'm free of extra nodal sites!
ALK+ ALCL also has a far better prognosis then ALK negative ALCL.

My treatment consists of five different medications specifically targeted to treat my lymphoma. The combination of medications is usually referred to as CHOP chemo, a combination of chemotherapeutics and antineoplastic medications often used to treat many cancers; my doctor has also added etopocide due to some research that she had read and went over with me prior to beginning treatment.

The letters that make up the word CHOP, each stand for a specific medication; C: Cyclophosphamide; H: Doxorubicin (I have no idea where the "H" comes from!); O:Vincristine (aka: Oncovin); P: Prednisone. With the addition of the Etopocide, my chemotherapy is being called CHOEP!

The addition of Etopocide was a decision made by my oncologist and myself after she reviewed with me an article in the Blood Journal. The article indicates that the addition of etopocide can increase the chances of LIFETIME remission from my specific type of cancer, to almost 90%!!

All in all, I feel pretty good (as good as I guess anyone can feel about their cancer) about my specific diagnosis. I feel great about the fight ahead of me to beat my cancer, and really love all the people in my life that are helping me and supporting me every step of the way.