America’s Rarest Blood Cancer

SPEAKER 1: WELCOME BACK TO GOOD DAY KENTUCKY. OVER 170,000 PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES ARE EXPECTED TO BE DIAGNOSED WITH BLOOD CANCERS EVERY YEAR, AND ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY DIAGNOSED BLOOD CANCERS IS NON-HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA, A CANCER THAT STARTS IN THE WHITE BLOOD CELLS AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR NEARLY 20,000 DEATHS ANNUALLY IN THE UNITED STATES. THERE IS A FORM OF THIS CANCER THAT OFTEN GOES UNDIAGNOSED. TODAY, DOCTOR MUHAMMAD IMAM, A MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST AT THE FLORIDA CANCER SPECIALIST AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE IS JOINING US WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT ONE OF AMERICA’S RAREST BLOOD CANCERS.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW DOCTOR.
DOCTOR IMAM: THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
SPEAKER 1: WELL, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. NOW WHAT EXACTLY IS NON-HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA AND WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR THE DISEASE?
DOCTOR IMAM: SO, NON-HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA IS A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND BECAUSE, WE DON’T USUALLY TALK ABOUT WHERE IT COMES FROM. BUT, WE KNOW WHERE BREAST CANCER COMES FROM, THAT COMES FROM THE BREAST. COLON CANCER COMES FROM THE COLON, THOSE ARE TWO THINGS THAT WE KNOW, AND WE CAN UNDERSTAND. LYMPHOMA COMES FROM THE CANCERS OF THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM. AND THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM IS BASICALLY YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THAT REMAINS IN THE BACKGROUND AND NEVER BEING ACTIVE UNLESS THERE’RE FOREIGN INVADERS LIKE BACTERIA AND VIRUSES. SO, LYMPHOMA IS BASICALLY A CANCER THAT STARTS WITHIN THE LYMPH NODES CAUSING THE LYMPH NODES TO GROW BIGGER, AND SOMETIMES YOU’LL SEE THEM UNDERNEATH YOUR NECK AND UNDERNEATH YOUR ARMPIT AND OTHER PLACES IN YOUR BODY AS WELL.
SPEAKER 1: WOW. AND HOW PREVALENT IS THE DISEASE AND WHO DOES IT TYPICALLY AFFECT?
DOCTOR IMAM: SO, THE DISEASE IS FAIRLY RARE IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC, BUT IT IS THE SIXTH MOST COMMON CANCER IN THE UNITED STATES. AND AN ONCOLOGIST WILL ACTUALLY, TEND TO TREAT THIS FAIRLY OFTEN. SO BUT, IN 20,000 PATIENTS A YEAR WILL DIE FROM THIS DISEASE.
SPEAKER 1: THAT’S SO SAD. THERE IS A SLOW GROWING FORM OF THIS CANCER ALSO THAT IS RARE AND CAN BE HARDER TO TREAT. WHAT IS IT … IS IMPORTANT, I GUESS, FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT THIS DISEASE?
DOCTOR IMAM: RIGHT. SO THIS SLOW GROWING LYMPHOMA IS KNOWN AS FOLLICULAR LYMPHOMA. AND THESE LYMPHOMAS, IN GENERAL, ARE NOT CURABLE. BUT, THE GOOD NEWS IS, IS THAT THEY CAN SOMETIMES LIVE FOR MANY YEARS, SOMETIMES DECADES, WITH AND WITHOUT TREATMENT. SO IT’S IMPORTANT FOR PATIENTS TO RECOGNIZE THIS EARLY AND THEN, GO PRESENT TO THEIR PATIENTS SO THAT THEY HAVE A PLAN FOR HOW TO TREAT IT.
SPEAKER 1: RIGHT, ABSOLUTELY. ARE THERE ANY RECENT TREATMENT ADVANCES THAT YOU’RE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WITH THIS?
DOCTOR IMAM: YES ACTUALLY, FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF HISTORY WHEN WE’VE TREATED LYMPHOMA, WE’VE HAD REALLY JUST, CHEMOTHERAPY. BUT NOW, WITH CHEMOTHERAPY WE CAN PUT PATIENTS INTO REMISSION, SOMETIMES FOR A LONG TIME. BUT NOW THANKFULLY, BECAUSE IT’S INCURABLE, WE KNOW THAT IT’LL COME BACK, BUT NOW WE HAVE MORE NON-CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC OPTIONS FOR PATIENTS THAT CAN HELP PUT THEM BACK INTO REMISSION.
SPEAKER 1: WELL THAT’S GOOD.
DOCTOR IMAM: ONE OF THEM IS KNOWN AS ALIQOPA, WHICH IS AN IV DRUG THAT’S A TARGETED AGENT THAT HITS AT THE PI 3-KINASE ENZYME WITHIN THE LYMPHOMA THAT HELPS LITTLE LYMPHOMA GO AWAY. SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING THINGS IN LYMPHOMA CURRENTLY. BUT IT’S BEST FOR THE PATIENTS TO SPEAK TO THEIR PHYSICIAN’S ABOUT THE RIGHT TREATMENT FOR THEM.
SPEAKER 1: RIGHT. AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS FORM OF CANCER AND TO GENERATE AWARENESS, NOT JUST WITH THE PATIENTS BUT ALSO WITH THE PHYSICIANS?
DOCTOR IMAM: RIGHT. LIKE I SAID BEFORE, IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE SORT OF, DIAGNOSED EARLIER TO KNOW ABOUT THE DISEASE EARLIER, SO THAT YOU CAN PLAN AHEAD OF TIME WHEN AND WHERE TO USE THE TREATMENTS THAT WE HAVE FOR IT. AND THIS ALLOWS OUR PATIENTS TO LIVE LONGER THAN EVER.
SPEAKER 1: WELL, WHERE SHOULD PEOPLE GO OR WHERE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR PEOPLE TO GO FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LYMPHOMA?
DOCTOR IMAM: SO, WE HAVE TWO REALLY GOOD WEBSITES. LLS.ORG FROM THE LEUKEMIA/LYMPHOMA SOCIETY AND ANOTHER, ALLBLOODCANCERS.ORG. BUT THE BEST RESOURCE WILL BE THEIR PHYSICIANS, TO ASK THEM THE SPECIFIC TOUGH QUESTIONS THAT THEY WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWERS TOO.
SPEAKER 1: ABSOLUTELY. WELL, DOCTOR THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE INFORMATION AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. AND EVERYONE, YOU ARE WATCHING GOOD DAY KENTUCKY, KEEP IT RIGHT HERE.