Experts have finished China's first guidelines to diagnose and treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which will be issued to doctors nationwide.

"These guidelines were written by 19 domestic leading tumor experts, who consulted guidance issued by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in the United States and made adjustments based on Chinese conditions," said Dr Shen Zhixiang, director of Ruijin Hospital's hematology department and vice director of Shanghai Hematology Institute. "The new guidelines regulate the whole process of diagnosis and treatment. All steps are supported by medical evidence."

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma originates in the lymphatic system, the disease-fighting network throughout the body. These tumors can occur at different locations.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is more than seven times as common as the other general type of lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease. It's one of the most rapidly increasing types of cancer in the world. China has 45,000 new patients each year, and 20,000 die of the disease every year.

Its incidence has increased globally by 70 percent since the 1970s. Currently there are one million people with the disease worldwide, with 360,000 deaths a year.

Its most common symptom is a persistent swelling of lymph nodes anywhere in the body. Other symptoms may include an enlarged liver or spleen, chest pain, shortness of breath, generalized fatigue, drenching night sweats, and loss of appetite, experts said.

(Shanghai Daily September 20, 2007)