Common causes of Lymphoma
In a simple sentence, cancer in the lymphatic system is called lymphoma.

The cause of most lymphomas is unknown. It has been hypothesized that it is triggered by mutations in the genes which regulate normal cell division. Mutations in these genes cause the cells to divide uncontrollably leading to cancer and formation of tumors.
Some of the factors which can lead to mutations in the genes are listed below:

• Exposure to specific type chemicals such as solvents, pesticides, herbicides, and water which has been tainted with nitrate.

• Drugs that suppress the immune system during transplantation and surgeries.

• Autoimmune type diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

• Ulcers and gastritis caused by bacteria called H. pyelori.

• Having a damaged immune system due to diseases like AIDS.

• Some viruses like the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Africa causes Burkitt's lymphoma.
Substances causing Lymphoma:

Medicines like Mycophenolate and CellCept in large doses are known to affect the cells of the immune system and cause specific type lymphomas.

General factors causing Lymphoma:
It is believed Lymphoma can be triggered by other diseases. The diseases which weaken or destroy the immune system are known to cause lymphoma. Some of these debilitating diseases are listed below:

1. Celiac Disease
2. HIV/AIDS
3. Pancreatic cancer
4. Sjogren's Syndrome

Specific causes of Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas
Non Hodgkin’s Lymphomas are caused by any of the following cell abnormalities:

• Lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) - It develops from native T or B cells. These are prevalent in the lymph nodes. The cancer can spread to multiple organs and can be fatal.

• Burkitt's lymphoma - Develops from B-Cells. It has been named after the scientist Denis Burkitt who first found it in Africa. This is an endemic cancer which is caused by infection from the Epstein-Barr virus. The hypothesis is that the virus mutates the B cells into a cancerous one. Usually a tumour is formed either in the bone of the jaw, or in the abdomen. Specific causes of Hodgkin’s disease

Hodgkin’s disease can be caused by a genetic predisposition or an exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The correlation between these causes and Lymphoma shows greater incidence among children rather than with adults. Moreover, everyone who has any one or all of the above infections or predisposition does not succumb to the onslaught of Hodgkin’s disease and hence the cause of the disease still remains a mystery in some ways.

It is clear from the above, that most researchers have not been able to pinpoint the source or cause of the disease. Efforts have been made to find patterns in sample populations to identify risk factors which can trigger the onset of the disease. Even these patterns are indicative rather than conclusive and there are many exceptions to the rule. The trigger of lymphoma remains a mystery. A number of hypotheses exist and are being explored. However, today, its clinical manifestations alone are examined, classified and treated.

The Stages of Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a progressive disease. The longer that it is present in the body, the higher the chance that it has to spread to other tissues and cause long-term damage to your body.

To that end, doctors have devised a system of assessing what level of development that a case of lymphoma has reached in order to more accurately address the problem. In this article, we’ll let you know about the different stages that lymphoma can reach so that you can better understand how the disease takes hold of the body.

There are two factors that you need to understand to realize exactly what stage of development that a case of lymphoma is at. The two factors are known as the grade of the disease and the stage of the disease. The grade of the disease represents exactly how active the cancer is within the body, and consequently, it is the most important issue when it comes to understanding exactly what a person’s chances of successfully fighting off the disease are.

The stage of the cancer denotes the amount of spreading that the tumors have done, which is also a significant piece of information that tells you a lot about a patient’s likelihood of successful treatment. First, we’ll discuss the grade of the cancer so that you can understand how severely fast the disease grows.

There are three grades that represent different levels of severity for the disease. The lowest, and least-risky type of lymphoma, is known as low-grade, or ‘indolent’ lymphoma. Diseases of this type are of slow growth, and they may not affect a persons livelihood for years and years. For that reason, people with this type of lymphoma often employ the ‘watch and wait’ approach for treatment; that is, they closely monitor the progression of the disease to make sure that it isn’t impairing their health, and they do not undergo any of the risky types of treatment to try to remove it.

The next grade of lymphoma is the intermediate grade. This grade is known as an ‘aggressive’ type of cancer, a type of lymphoma that grows and spreads at a dangerous pace. The most severe grade of lymphoma is high-grade lymphoma. This means that the disease grows very fast, and it puts the patient at a high risk for problems.

To diagnose what stage the disease is at, doctors will note the number of lymph nodes in the body that contain cancerous cells. They will also note the location of these cancerous nodes, and pay close attention to whether or not the affected nodes are found below or above the diaphragm. Also, they will want to know whether or not the cancer has spread to the other organs of the body, including the bone marrow and the spleen.

In Stage I, the cancer is still relatively non-threatening, and has not spread outside of the range of the initial tumor.

In Stage II, there are more than one tumor found in the body, but they are all found either above the diaphragm or all below the diaphragm.

Stage III lymphoma is present when tumors are found on both sides of the diaphragm, and may have spread to closeby organs.

Stage IV is the most severe stage of lymphoma. In this stage, tumors have spread to organs such as the liver and the stomach, as well as many lymph nodes.

Now that you know more about how lymphoma progresses, you can better understand how severe the disease can be without proper treatment.