{"entity":{"id":"non-hodgkin-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all types)","aka":["Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma","NHL","Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma","Lymphoma (non-Hodgkin)"],"tldr":"Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is not one disease but a family of about sixty cancers of B cells, T cells or NK cells, from slow-growing follicular lymphoma to aggressive diffuse large B-cell and Burkitt lymphomas. This page is the map; each subtype has its own page with its own treatment.","summary":"Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) covers every lymphoma that is not Hodgkin lymphoma. Around 85 to 90% arise from B cells, the rest from T or NK cells. The WHO classification recognises dozens of subtypes, and treatment depends far more on the subtype than on the stage: aggressive B-cell lymphomas such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are treated to cure with R-CHOP or Pola-R-CHP and, at relapse, CAR-T or bispecific antibodies; indolent lymphomas such as follicular and marginal zone lymphoma are often watched and then controlled for years with rituximab-based therapy; mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (the same disease as small lymphocytic lymphoma) are now largely managed with BTK and BCL2 inhibitors; T-cell lymphomas remain the hardest to treat. The subtype pages below carry the detail; this page exists so that a reader who has only been told 'lymphoma' can find the right one.","asOf":"2026-09-04","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Hodgkin_lymphoma","links":[{"label":"NCI: Lymphoma","url":"https://www.cancer.gov/types/lymphoma"},{"label":"GLOBOCAN 2020 (Sung 2021)","url":"https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21660"}],"tags":["heme","umbrella"],"related":["dlbcl","follicular-lymphoma","mantle-cell-lymphoma","cll","burkitt-lymphoma","waldenstrom","primary-cns-lymphoma","peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma","hiv-associated-lymphoma","hodgkin-lymphoma"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["car-t","t-cell-engager","adc"],"targets":["cd20","cd19","btk","bcl2","cd30"],"drugs":["rituximab","polatuzumab-vedotin","ibrutinib","venetoclax","brentuximab-vedotin"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"group":"haematologic","burden":"About 544,000 new cases and 260,000 deaths worldwide in 2020 (GLOBOCAN); the commonest blood cancer, with some 60 subtypes ranging from slow-growing to very aggressive.","subtypes":["Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma","Follicular lymphoma","Marginal zone lymphoma","Mantle cell lymphoma","Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia / small lymphocytic lymphoma","Burkitt lymphoma","Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma)","Primary CNS lymphoma","Peripheral T-cell lymphomas","Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas","HIV-associated lymphomas"],"biomarkers":["Immunophenotype (CD20, CD5, CD10, CD30 and others) that assigns the subtype","MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 rearrangements (high-grade B-cell lymphoma)","Ki-67 proliferation index","Interim and end-of-treatment PET (Deauville score)","Cell of origin (germinal centre versus activated B-cell) in DLBCL"],"standardOfCare":[{"setting":"Aggressive B-cell (DLBCL and related)","approach":"Curative immunochemotherapy (R-CHOP or Pola-R-CHP); CAR-T or bispecific antibodies at relapse. See the DLBCL page.","refs":["rituximab","polatuzumab-vedotin"]},{"setting":"Indolent B-cell (follicular, marginal zone)","approach":"Watch and wait when asymptomatic; rituximab alone or with bendamustine or CHOP when treatment is needed; bispecifics and CAR-T for later relapses. See the follicular lymphoma page.","refs":["rituximab","bendamustine"]},{"setting":"Mantle cell lymphoma and CLL","approach":"BTK inhibitors and venetoclax-based regimens have largely replaced chemotherapy. See the mantle cell and CLL pages.","refs":["ibrutinib","venetoclax"]},{"setting":"T-cell lymphomas","approach":"CHOP-based chemotherapy, brentuximab vedotin for CD30-positive disease, transplant in first remission for fit patients. See the peripheral T-cell lymphoma page.","refs":["brentuximab-vedotin"]}],"stateOfArt":[],"history":[{"year":1997,"title":"Rituximab approved, the first antibody for a cancer","note":"Anti-CD20 rituximab for relapsed follicular lymphoma; added to CHOP it raised cure rates in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.","refs":["rituximab"]},{"year":2017,"title":"First CAR-T for lymphoma","note":"Axicabtagene ciloleucel approved for relapsed large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines.","refs":["axicabtagene-ciloleucel"]},{"year":2023,"title":"Bispecific antibodies approved","note":"Glofitamab and epcoritamab, off-the-shelf CD20 x CD3 antibodies, approved for relapsed large B-cell lymphoma.","refs":["glofitamab","epcoritamab"]}],"pipeline":["glofitamab","epcoritamab","mosunetuzumab","obecabtagene-autoleucel"],"openProblems":["Relapsed T-cell lymphomas still lack effective options.","Access to CAR-T and bispecifics outside high-income countries."]},"route":"/cancers/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"burkitt-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Burkitt lymphoma","route":"/cancers/burkitt-lymphoma/"},{"id":"cll","kind":"cancer","name":"Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia","route":"/cancers/cll/"},{"id":"dlbcl","kind":"cancer","name":"Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma","route":"/cancers/dlbcl/"},{"id":"follicular-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Follicular lymphoma","route":"/cancers/follicular-lymphoma/"},{"id":"hiv-associated-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"HIV-associated (AIDS-related) lymphomas","route":"/cancers/hiv-associated-lymphoma/"},{"id":"hodgkin-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Hodgkin lymphoma","route":"/cancers/hodgkin-lymphoma/"},{"id":"mantle-cell-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Mantle cell lymphoma","route":"/cancers/mantle-cell-lymphoma/"},{"id":"peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma)","route":"/cancers/peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma/"},{"id":"primary-cns-lymphoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Primary CNS lymphoma","route":"/cancers/primary-cns-lymphoma/"},{"id":"waldenstrom","kind":"cancer","name":"Waldenström macroglobulinaemia","route":"/cancers/waldenstrom/"}],"technology":[{"id":"adc","kind":"technology","name":"Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)","route":"/technologies/adc/"},{"id":"car-t","kind":"technology","name":"CAR-T cell therapy","route":"/technologies/car-t/"},{"id":"t-cell-engager","kind":"technology","name":"T-cell engagers (bispecific)","route":"/technologies/t-cell-engager/"}],"target":[{"id":"bcl2","kind":"target","name":"BCL-2","route":"/targets/bcl2/"},{"id":"btk","kind":"target","name":"BTK (Bruton tyrosine kinase)","route":"/targets/btk/"},{"id":"cd19","kind":"target","name":"CD19","route":"/targets/cd19/"},{"id":"cd20","kind":"target","name":"CD20","route":"/targets/cd20/"},{"id":"cd30","kind":"target","name":"CD30","route":"/targets/cd30/"}],"drug":[{"id":"axicabtagene-ciloleucel","kind":"drug","name":"Axicabtagene ciloleucel","route":"/drugs/axicabtagene-ciloleucel/"},{"id":"bendamustine","kind":"drug","name":"Bendamustine","route":"/drugs/bendamustine/"},{"id":"brentuximab-vedotin","kind":"drug","name":"Brentuximab vedotin","route":"/drugs/brentuximab-vedotin/"},{"id":"epcoritamab","kind":"drug","name":"Epcoritamab","route":"/drugs/epcoritamab/"},{"id":"glofitamab","kind":"drug","name":"Glofitamab","route":"/drugs/glofitamab/"},{"id":"ibrutinib","kind":"drug","name":"Ibrutinib","route":"/drugs/ibrutinib/"},{"id":"mosunetuzumab","kind":"drug","name":"Mosunetuzumab","route":"/drugs/mosunetuzumab/"},{"id":"obecabtagene-autoleucel","kind":"drug","name":"Obecabtagene autoleucel","route":"/drugs/obecabtagene-autoleucel/"},{"id":"polatuzumab-vedotin","kind":"drug","name":"Polatuzumab vedotin","route":"/drugs/polatuzumab-vedotin/"},{"id":"rituximab","kind":"drug","name":"Rituximab","route":"/drugs/rituximab/"},{"id":"venetoclax","kind":"drug","name":"Venetoclax","route":"/drugs/venetoclax/"}]}}