If you are symptomatic and/or time is of the essence, going with the best well-tested mainstream treatment may be your best option. In that case, consider adding some of these suggestions after your treatment is finished.
2. Get tested for the various infections, inflammatory or allergic conditions that may be underlying your disease, depending on the lymphoma site and your health symptoms. For example, testing for H. pylori is key in gastric lymphoma, Borrelia burgdorferi may be implicated in skin lymphomas, HCV (hepatitis C virus) may be a common occurrence, and so on. (You may need to find another specialist, as oncologists dealing with lymphoma do not yet routinely consider these issues, and you want to have access to the most sensitive tests and the latest information on treatment.)
3. Undergo an antibiotic treatment designed to treat the underlying condition if identified, or designed to eradicate similar as yet unidentified problems. As a rationale for the latter course of action, point out that some sources now recommend antibiotic treatment for all gastric lymphomas, since no test is 100% accurate. Similarly, some researchers feel that antibiotic therapy may act against other hidden infections in the body, and so exert a beneficial effect. Besides, what have you got to lose? Follow the dosages and times of administration religiously. Get retested as appropriate.
4. Design for yourself, if you have the knowledge, or have a doctor familiar with holistic medicine design for you a program of lifestyle changes (exercise, diet, stress management, detoxification, etc), supplements (esp. probiotics) and herbs to restore your body after the antibiotic treatment, and improve your odds of a positive outcome. Follow for a year and a half unless otherwise indicated. (Licorice, cat's claw, and aloe are of a particular interest in gastric NHL, if you wish to experiment with herbs. Enzymatic therapy may be beneficial in pancreatic tumors.) For patients with particular underlying inflammatory processes or allergies, ask for a component that will address these problems as well.
5. Ask your oncologist to design a treatment plan using interferon, as a secondary insurance in case of gastric lymphoma, as a complementary treatment for those who are HCV positive, or as a primary local treatment in cases of orbital soft tissue, lacrymal glands, skin, or other sites into which direct injections are possible, and as an experimental treatment in other cases. In case of bladder MALToma, consider adding BCG treatment (this is a mainstream treatment used in localized bladder cancer of other types, using a tuberculosis vaccine).
6. Keep in mind that the lymphoma may take up to 18 months to recede completely. If it persists, consider two possibilities: the lymphoma may have a higher grade component and needs to be approached differently. If the low grade nature of the tumor is re-confirmed, then your options include "watch and wait" (if asymptomatic), Rituxan, small amounts of local radiation with or without hyperthermia, or other options discussed under disseminated disease. Lymphoma patients on the nhl-info list are conducting informal experiments with various approaches, and you may elect to participate. Of particular interest currently are: intravenous hydrogen peroxide, ozone, Coley's toxins, and naltrexone. Or you may want to consider a clinical trial.
2. Do at least 10 intravenous hydrogen peroxide treatments. This therapy is available at many alternative clinics around the country (U.S.). The treatment has been known to decrease tumor load, boost energy, and act against hidden infections and inflammations. (Some other countries offer ozone instead, and ozone is becoming available in the U.S. as well.)
3. Consider "watch and wait" if you are asymptomatic (new therapies are on the horizon!). Consider the less toxic mainstream treatments (Rituxan, Bexxar, or short term single agent chemo), experimental treatments (survey current trials in this and other immunogenic cancers, and consult with world experts on your site to see what they consider "edge" treatments), or the most promising alternative approaches (Coley's toxins, whole body hyperthermia coupled with other modalities, Rituxan plus an herbal immune modulator, or naltrexone). Support your body with complementary strategies while in treatment.
Consider full dose chemotherapy, radiation, and mutilating surgery only if all other options have been exhausted, and if credible studies have indicated a definitive advantage from them. The object is to go for the cure in limited lymphoma, and to gain time in disseminated or unresponsive lymphoma so that when better treatments arive, the patient's body remains as uncompromised by past toxic treatments as possible.
Written by Vera Bradova © 1999-2001
Updated 9-1-2001
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