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Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy

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Follow-Up Care

Follow-up care is important with both aggressive and indolent forms of NHL because if the disease recurs, curative options are still available for many people. Follow-up care needs to be individualized and should be based on several factors, including how the disease initially manifested. Patients who are in remission should continue to be monitored by clinical assessment as determined by their doctor. In the past, computed tomography (CT) scans or other diagnostic imaging were done routinely in an attempt to detect relapse.

Samuel

On June 21, 2019, my sweet, goofy, little boy, Samuel, turned 3 years old, and we had a big celebration. We threw Samuel a beautiful birthday party surrounded by family and friends at a local farm. The kids played, fed the farm animals, went on pony and tractor rides, and ate pizza and cake. It was a day Samuel still remembers and talks about. He has always been so bright, even as a baby, saying words like “tickle” at 10 months old.

Sofia

Sofia’s story starts in November 2022. Actually, it starts on March 17, 2019, when she was born. She has been my fierce, independent, strong-willed little girl from the get-go. Once she started walking, she was an unstoppable force. Contrary to her cautious, older brother, Sofia seemed fearless. She loved to climb to the top of the playground structure meant for kids twice her age. She loved gymnastics and took after Mommy with her love of the bars, anything she could hang or climb on.

Follow-Up Care

Click here for information about follow-up care, including what to expect, long-term and late effects of treatment, survivorship clinics, and other resources such as The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) treatment guidelines.

Use the Survivorship Workbook to collect all the important information you need throughout diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and long-term management of a blood cancer.

Follow-Up Care

Use the Survivorship Workbook to collect all the important information you need throughout diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and long-term management of a blood cancer.

Lauren

It was last July, and I was just a regular Jersey girl. I was a 41-year-old wife, mother of two, physical therapist assistant just living a regular, normal life, or so I thought. I was just returning from a vacation in Puerto Rico, celebrating my brother's 50th birthday, when I fainted on the plane and had to have an emergency visit upon landing.

Daniel

My son was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in 1992 at 7 years old. Needless to say, it was a devastating blow to our family, and we were so scared! I had just gone through cancer illnesses with two other members of my family and knew how this diagnosis went. But my son, I never thought in a million years!

Jude

From 2013 to 2014, after he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Jude endured four cycles of intense chemotherapy, lengthy hospitalizations, difficult side effects, and months of home isolation. Jude's younger brother, Finn, was born in May 2014 in the middle of Jude's chemotherapy cycle. In August 2014, his family finally celebrated as Jude finished the more difficult part of treatment.

Sophie

I was diagnosed with stage 3B Hodgkin lymphoma in February 2013. I was having unusual things going on with my body such as itching, weight gain, swollen lymph nodes and heavy breathing. As these symptoms continued, it led me to go see my general practitioner, who misdiagnosed me with scabies (a form of bed bugs). After another week of being miserable, and no change in my symptoms, I decided to go see my dermatologist. When I went in he knew right away something wasn’t right and sent me to get blood work done immediately.

Signs and Symptoms

Signs and symptoms are changes in the body that may indicate disease. A sign is a change that the doctor sees during an examination or on a laboratory test result. A symptom is a change that a patient can see and/or feel. A person who has signs or symptoms that suggest the possibility of leukemia is usually referred to a specialist. This is a hematologist-oncologist. A hematologist-oncologist is a doctor who has special training in diagnosing and treating blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Diagnosis

Diagnosing juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) usually involves ruling out other similar diseases such as chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia, especially if your child is older than 6 years. Doctors commonly use blood tests and bone marrow tests to diagnose JMML.

The tests used to diagnose JMML include:

Chemotherapy and Drug Therapy

Chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for HL. A combination chemotherapy regimen consists of two or more chemotherapy drugs. Generally, the drugs are dissolved in fluid and usually administered via a peripheral intravenous (IV) line. If finding an accessible vein is problematic, a central line (a port, or a peripherally inserted central venous catheter (a PICC or PIC line) may be used for some HL patients.

Follow-Up Care

Use the Survivorship Workbook to collect all the important information you need throughout diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and long-term management of a blood cancer.

Ernest

During my summer internship at General Motors in Flint, Michigan, I suddenly started feeling extremely restless. Soon after a lump the side of a golf ball appeared on my neck and I got an extreme sore throat. A doctor told me I just had a sinus infection and gave me Theraflu.

Santino

I know the pain of being told that you have cancer twice, but I also know the joy of being told that you have beaten cancer twice. I write this message to bring encouragement and to instill a fight in people who have had a relapse of cancer. Being told once that you have this disease is already heartbreaking, but to be told that it came back and you will need chemo again is soul-crushing.

Follow-Up Care

All children treated for ALL need to receive follow-up care. Follow-up care involves regular medical checkups after your child has finished treatment. These checkups may include blood work as well as other tests to check for a possible relapse of the cancer. These visits are also a time for doctors to test for other physical or emotional problems that may develop months or years after treatment. Even if your child is feeling entirely well, it is very important to keep the follow-up appointments.

Side Effects

Cancer therapy for hairy cell leukemia can sometimes produce side effects. For most patients, treatment side effects are temporary and go away once therapy ends. For other patients, side effects can be more severe, sometimes requiring hospitalization.

Before you undergo treatment, talk with your doctor about potential side effects. Drugs and other therapies can prevent or manage many side effects.

Diagnosis

Diagnosing chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) usually involves a series of repeated tests, including blood and bone marrow tests. Your doctor usually can't confirm a diagnosis of CMML with one lab test result that shows abnormal blood counts. Instead, he or she will monitor you over a period of time with repeated lab tests that show abnormal blood counts. This is done to rule out other diagnoses.

Bone marrow testing involves two steps usually done at the same time in a doctor's office or a hospital:

Will

I am a cancer mom. I WAS a cancer mom. My youngest son, Will, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) at age 19 in April of 2019. He, his dad, and I were beyond shocked when we heard the news that the swollen lymph nodes that came up out of the blue one March morning were indeed HL. We didn't really know anybody personally that had it. We didn't know what exactly all the words meant at that moment in time, but we knew it wasn't what we had planned for our youngest son.

Rylie

My name is Rylie York, I am 20 years old and I'm currently a sophomore at Baylor University. I'm originally from Round Rock, Texas and I am a patient at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas. I was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 18 in the middle of my senior year of high school. I have relapsed twice since then and completed my bone marrow transplant this past August and September.

Jonathan

I was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on July 26, 2019, and even without the involvement of a pandemic, I imagine that’s reason enough to believe that to me 2018 seems like a lifetime ago. Still, I can remember it well enough: A wide-eyed younger version of me arrived at college orientation, somehow simultaneously thrilled to begin a new chapter of his life and paralyzingly terrified of the imminent unknown.

Elisa

I was diagnosed with stage IV Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in April 2022 at 27 years old. After months of debilitating symptoms and a week-long hospital stay, I finally had an answer as to what was going on with my body. I was relieved to have an answer, but "cancer" was the last thing I expected. Ironically, after my diagnosis and first chemotherapy infusion, I felt better than I had in months. I didn't feel like I had cancer; the only reminders were a few enlarged lymph nodes and the mediport protruding from the right side of my chest.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood
Progresses rapidly without treatment
Does not have a clear cause

Click here to access ALL statistics.

Click here to access information about ALL in children and teens.

Clinical Trials

Taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice for some blood cancer patients. There are trials for patients at every stage of treatment as well as those in remission. Virtually all of today's standard treatments for cancer are based on previous clinical trials.

Clinical Trial Support Center

Work one-on-one with an LLS Clinical Trial Nurse Navigator who will help you find clinical trials and personally assist you throughout the entire clinical-trial process.