15 Cancer Symptoms Women Ignore Slideshow Pictures 15 Cancer Symptoms Men Ignore Slideshow Pictures Top Cancer-Fighting Foods Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Lymphoma Symptoms and Signs

Often, the first sign of lymphoma is a painless swelling in the neck, under an arm, or in the groin.

• Lymph nodes or tissues elsewhere in the body may also swell. The spleen, for example, often becomes enlarged in lymphoma.



• The enlarged lymph node sometimes causes other symptoms by pressing against a vein or lymphatic vessel (swelling of an arm or leg), a nerve (pain, numbness, or tingling), or the stomach (early feeling of fullness).



• Enlargement of the spleen may cause abdominal pain or discomfort.



• Many people have no other symptoms.

Symptoms of lymphoma may include the following:

• Fevers



• Chills



• Unexplained weight loss



• Night sweats



• Lack of energy



• Itching (up to 25% of patients develop this itch, most commonly in the lower extremity but it can occur anywhere, be local, or spreading over the whole body)

These symptoms are nonspecific. This means that they could be caused by any number of conditions unrelated to cancer. For instance, they could be signs of the flu or other viral infection, but in those cases, they would not last very long. In lymphoma, the symptoms persist over time and cannot be explained by an infection or another disease.