Hematology Specialist Prof. Dr. İlhan: “Lymphomas have recently become a disease of old age, especially in developed societies”

Lokman Hekim Health Group Hematology Specialist Prof. Dr. Osman İlhan said, “Lymphomas have recently become a disease of old age, especially in developed societies.”

World Lymphoma Awareness Day continues to be organized for the first time in 2004 by the Lymphoma Coalition in order to eliminate the lack of information about the disease, increase awareness about the disease, and draw attention to the emotional and psychosocial difficulties faced by patients and their caregivers. Lokman Hekim Health Group Hematology Specialist Prof. Dr. Osman İlhan made a statement to İhlas News Agency on the occasion of “September 15 World Lymphoma Awareness Day”. Stating that lymphoma is a kind of cancer of the lymph nodes, which are the main element of the immune system, İlhan said that lymphoma is a treatable disease.

Stating that lymphoma patients usually apply to physicians with the complaint of a swelling in the neck, armpit or groin, İlhan emphasized that patients sometimes come to them due to itching in the body.

Speaking about the treatment process of the disease, İlhan said, “The size of the lymph node alone does not mean that it is lymphoma. That lymph node must be completely removed. Unfortunately, recently, at the request of the patient, they are trying to diagnose with a needle. This diagnosis is wrong. And it wastes time. For this reason, if there is a large lymph node in the neck, armpit and groin that does not respond to antibiotic treatment, that lymph node must be completely removed. And we have lymph node specialists called hemato pathologists. They need to see it. Unfortunately, there are currently 50 types of lymphoma. For example, the diagnosis we call hodgkin lymphoma is seen at a rate of 20 percent. We see non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at a rate of 80 percent. Sometimes it progresses very slowly. Sometimes it progresses fast. So in the end, the lymph node must be completely removed and diagnosed by a hematopathologist. Then the imaging method. In other words, we determine its stage with tomography or PED-CT. Are we at the beginning? Is it advanced? Accordingly, treatment should be done according to the type of the disease.”

“Lymphomas have recently become a disease of old age, especially in developed societies”

Underlining that lymphoma is more common in the elderly, İlhan said, “As the founding president of the Geriatric Hematology Association, I examined it. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is seen at a rate of 5-10 per hundred thousand in young people, appears to be one hundred and twenty per hundred thousand over the age of 65. In other words, it increases ten times more. Malnutrition, stress, viruses, radiation, obesity and genetic structure are important here. We see it more in the elderly. I have calculated that we are currently expecting more than ten thousand newly diagnosed non-Hodgkin's lymphomas over the age of sixty-five in Turkey. Lymphomas have recently become a disease of old age, especially in developed societies. For this reason, if a patient is over the age of sixty and has a gland anywhere, we recommend lymph node and biopsy to prevent lymphoma.”

Stating that there were no diagnostic methods and treatment drugs in Turkey when the disease first emerged, İlhan said that now, provided that the faculty member doctor deems it appropriate, the drugs can be obtained free of charge by applying to the ministry.

“The success rate in the chemotherapy process is close to 100 percent”

Speaking about the chemotherapy process of the disease, İlhan said, “A drug called Rituximab and Mabthera, which are smart drugs, came into play. The biggest feature of these drugs is that in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, if there is a cell feature called CD20, we have achieved great success in the disease with this anti -CD20. For Hodgkin's, we have an anti -C30 drug according to the feature we call CD30. In other words, in the treatment of lymphoma in recent years, the treatment of the disease is close to one hundred percent with personalized treatments for targeted treatment for cellular therapy. The success rate is close to one hundred percent,” he said.

“I had periodic night sweats within four to five months”

Melike Sürmen, a functional medicine coach who was diagnosed with lymphoma on November 2023 and regained her former health in about 5 months, said, “I had periodic night sweats for four to five months. Afterwards, I started to get a little fever. I started to suffer from very serious back pain. I had an MRI and the MRI revealed enlarged lymph nodes. And then immediately a pathology. Then PET/CT was performed and that is how the diagnosis was made.”

Reminding that he never interrupted the treatment process, Sürmen said, “My treatment lasted for about 4.5-5 months. Until I was diagnosed, I was eating very healthy, doing sports and taking care of myself. Drinking and smoking were never in my life anyway. I was also managing my psychology well. When I got sick, my body responded to me in the same way as I had taken care of myself in the previous years. My immunity was very strong, strong, I took good care of myself. I survived without any infection, without any discomfort and especially stronger because of chemotherapy.”