If you have few or no symptoms, your doctor might decide not to treat the lymphoma right away. Treatment for SLL will depend on your symptoms, your age, the stage of the cancer, and your overall health. If the cancer affects the blood or bone marrow, it’s often staged differently, using a system for CLL. Stage 4 The lymphoma has spread to at least one organ outside the lymph system, such as the liver or lung.Stage 3 The cancer is found in lymph node areas on both sides of the diaphragm, or it’s in lymph nodes above the diaphragm and in the spleen.It might also be present in other groups of lymph nodes on the same side of the diaphragm. Stage 2E The lymphoma is found in a group of lymph nodes and one area of a nearby organ.Stage 2 The cancer is in two or more groups of lymph nodes on the same side of the diaphragm.Stage 1E The lymphoma is found in only one area of a single organ outside the lymphatic system.Stage 1 The cancer is only found in one lymph node area or lymphoid organ.If the lymphoma is a stage 1 or 2 but affects an organ outside the lymph system, it might also have a letter “E” added to the stage description. It involves using the numbers 1 through 4 to categorize the cancer. Most types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma are staged with a system called the Lugano classification. Staging lymphoma can help your physician recommend the most effective treatment approaches. ( 1, 2, 3)Īfter you’re diagnosed with SLL, your doctor will perform certain tests to find out how advanced the cancer is and if it has spread to different parts of your body. These cancers primarily affect older people. SLL and CLL are usually slow-growing and may not need to be treated immediately. For the cancer to be called SLL, you must have enlarged lymph nodes or an enlarged spleen with fewer than 5,000 lymphocytes (per mm 3) in your blood. In the case of CLL, the cancer cells are generally located in the bloodstream and bone marrow, but they may also be present in the spleen and lymph nodes.įor the cancer to be considered CLL, you must have at least 5,000 monoclonal lymphocytes (per cubic millimeter, or mm 3) in your blood.

When the cancer cells are mostly found in the lymph nodes, it’s called SLL. The only difference between them is where they occur. It’s a lot like chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and is treated the same way. There are two main types of lymphoma: Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin.

If you have SLL, these lymphocytes build up and grow in your lymph nodes, which are small, oval glands spread throughout the body that filter harmful substances out of your body through the lymphatic system. When normal, B lymphocytes help fight infection. Small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) is a type of cancer that happens when your body makes too many abnormal versions of a type of white blood cell called B lymphocytes.

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