Q: I am a 72 years old man who was diagnosed with low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) 5 years back. I took a few cycles of chemotherapy, including oral chemotherapy, but have had two relapses already. In other words, remission period between two courses of treatment was pretty short. I came to know about dendritic cell therapy, which promises longer remissions and even complete remission. I am presently in the remission stage. Should I go for the dendritic cell therapy? Please advise.

A:Low grade Non Hodgkins Lymphoma is known to be a chronic and indolent disease and multiple relapses are known. In other words, a complete cure may not be possible in this disease and patients may have to live with the disease as in patients with diabetes and hypertension. Dendritic cell therapy (DCT) is an immunological treatment in which Dendritic Cells are harvested from peripheral blood after stimulation with G-CSF (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor). These cells are then re-injected into the patient’s circulation and then they engulf the cancer cells. You should first confirm with a PET-CT scan that you don’t have any residual disease. If there is none then probably DCT is not going to work. You can try DCT during your next relapse, if it happens.