What is Follicular Lymphoma?
Follicular Lymphoma (FL) is a type of blood cancer that affects the lymph nodes (or glands). It’s currently uncurable. We plan to change that.
There are more than 100 different blood cancers, over 60 of which are types of Lymphoma. There are two main types of Lymphoma. These are Hodgkin Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Follicular Lymphoma is the second most common type of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. It develops when white blood cells develop abnormally, increasing in number and growing in clumps called follicles inside the lymph nodes. These appear as usually painless swellings in the lymph glands found in the neck, armpits and groin.
Lymph glands play an important role in the immune system, acting as a filter to help fight infection. This means that people with Follicular Lymphoma can have a compromised immune system.
Globally there are over a million people living with this currently incurable cancer. There are around 2,000 people diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma every year in the UK and 16,500 diagnosed every year in the US.