Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsOverviewSymptomsDiagnosisPrognosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Overview
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Treatment
Lymphoblastic lymphoma is an uncommon form of fast-growing, aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), most often seen in teenagers and young adults. Another name for it is precursor lymphoblastic lymphoma. It usually is a tumor of the T cells but sometimes the cells are B cells, and those terms will be used in naming.
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A blast cell is an immature cell in the bone marrow that gives rise to mature lines of blood cells, In the case of lymphoblastic lymphoma, the disordered cell is a lymphoblast that would normally produce a healthy line of immune system cells, the lymphocytes. The lymphoblasts would normally live in the bone marrow, producing lymphocytes that circulate in the blood and lymphatic system, including the lymph nodes.
What Produces Lymphoblastic Lymphoma?
Lymphoblastic lymphoma is a cancer of immature lymphoblasts. It arises more commonly from T-lymphoblasts than B-lymphoblasts. It is a very aggressive lymphoma, also called high-grade lymphoma. That means that the lymphoma grows quickly, and can spread fast to different parts of the body. In many ways, it is similar to leukemia. In this case, it shades into the diagnosis ofacute lymphoblastic leukemiaif there is more than 25% lymphoblasts in the bone marrow.
Get familiar with the names given to the different types of NHL in the article onNHL types.
Who Gets Lymphoblastic Lymphoma?
Lymphoblastic lymphoma mostly affects young people in their late teens or early twenties. It is more common in men than in women. It accounts for 25%-30% of NHL in children.
How the Disease Affects the Body
This lymphoma is very fast growing. Most patients develop severe symptoms within a short span of time. Lymph nodes in the mediastinum (the central part of the chest between the lungs) are the most commonly affected. This results in a mass in the chest that leads to breathing problems and cough. Water may also accumulate within the lungs. The bone marrow is commonly involved. The brain and spinal cord may also be affected in a number of cases.
Diagnosis and Tests
The prognosis of lymphoblastic lymphoma is similar in many respects to leukemias. It depends on a number of factors including the stage of the disease. The factors are described in the section onprognostic factors of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL).
Lymphoblastic lymphoma istreatedmore like leukemia than like another type of lymphoma. Chemotherapy is the primary treatment.
Chemotherapy is given in three phases: induction, consolidation, and maintenance.
A number of patients with lymphoblastic lymphoma achieve a cure with intensive chemotherapy. In adults, intensive combination chemotherapy is given and a bone marrow transplant may be performed.
A newer treatment option is chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. CAR-T is a type of immunotherapy that uses patients' own immune cells to treat their cancer.
InCAR T-cell therapy, immune cells are removed from a patient’s blood, modified in a laboratory using a drug, and then placed back into the body to fight cancer. Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) and Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) are CAR T-cell treatments approved for certain patients with lymphoblastic lymphoma.
In 2024, the FDA issued Safety Labeling Changes for these CAR-T therapies. The warnings inform providers and patients of the potential risk of these therapies causing secondary cancer.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Cancer Society.Types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children.Aggarwal R, Rao S, Dhawan S, Bhalla S, Kumar A, Chopra P.Primary mediastinal lymphomas, their morphological features and comparative evaluation. Lung India. 2017;34(1):19-24. doi:10.4103/0970-2113.197115National Cancer Institute.Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).National Cancer Institute.Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Cancer Society.Types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children.Aggarwal R, Rao S, Dhawan S, Bhalla S, Kumar A, Chopra P.Primary mediastinal lymphomas, their morphological features and comparative evaluation. Lung India. 2017;34(1):19-24. doi:10.4103/0970-2113.197115National Cancer Institute.Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).National Cancer Institute.Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Cancer Society.Types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children.Aggarwal R, Rao S, Dhawan S, Bhalla S, Kumar A, Chopra P.Primary mediastinal lymphomas, their morphological features and comparative evaluation. Lung India. 2017;34(1):19-24. doi:10.4103/0970-2113.197115National Cancer Institute.Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).National Cancer Institute.Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).
American Cancer Society.Types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children.
Aggarwal R, Rao S, Dhawan S, Bhalla S, Kumar A, Chopra P.Primary mediastinal lymphomas, their morphological features and comparative evaluation. Lung India. 2017;34(1):19-24. doi:10.4103/0970-2113.197115
National Cancer Institute.Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).
National Cancer Institute.Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment–for health professionals (PDQ).
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