Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer today, the two main forms of Lymphoma being Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). Follicular Lymphoma (FL) is the most common type of low-grade lymphoma. Each year around 2,500 people are diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in the UK.
Symptoms of FL include enlargement of the lymph nodes in the neck, underarms, abdomen, groin as well as fatigue. Patients don’t present obvious symptoms at diagnosis and present only with an enlarged lymph node in exam or found incidentally by imaging studies
The overall survival rate at 5 years for follicular lymphomas is 72-77% and median survival is approximately 8-10 years. This disease is characterized by periods of remission and progression. Disease progression is unpredictable, and only patients with symptoms or with actively progressing disease will usually be treated. After successive episodes of chemotherapy, the frequency of relapse generally increases and the periods of progression-free survival shorten. The majority of patients die from the disease.