Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program
Turning Cancer Data Into Discovery

At a Glance

Number of New Cases and Deaths per 100,000: The number of new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma was 19.7 per 100,000 men and women per year. The number of deaths was 6.4 per 100,000 men and women per year. These rates are age-adjusted and based on 2007-2011 cases and 2006-2010 deaths.

Lifetime Risk of Developing Cancer: Approximately 2.1 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at some point during their lifetime, based on 2008-2010 data.

Prevalence of this cancer: In 2011, there were an estimated 530,919 people living with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the United States.

How Many People Survive 5 Years Or More after Being Diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?

Relative survival statistics compare the survival of patients diagnosed with cancer with the survival of people in the general population who are the same age, race, and sex and who have not been diagnosed with cancer. Because survival statistics are based on large groups of people, they cannot be used to predict exactly what will happen to an individual patient. No two patients are entirely alike, and treatment and responses to treatment can vary greatly.

Additional Information

• More about 5-year survival rates

Survival by Stage

Cancer stage at diagnosis, which refers to extent of a cancer in the body, determines treatment options and has a strong influence on the length of survival. In general, if the cancer is found only in the part of the body where it started it is localized (sometimes referred to as stage 1). If it has spread to a different part of the body, the stage is regional or distant. For non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 27.8% are diagnosed at the local stage. The 5-year survival for localized non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 81.6%.

Additional Information

• More about non-Hodgkin lymphoma staging

How Common Is This Cancer?

Compared to other cancers, non-Hodgkin lymphoma is fairly common.

In 2014, it is estimated that there will be 70,800 new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and an estimated 18,990 people will die of this disease.

Who Gets This Cancer?

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more common in men than women, and among individuals of Caucasian descent. The number of new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma was 19.7 per 100,000 men and women per year based on 2007-2011 cases.

Who Dies From This Cancer?

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the eighth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The number of deaths was 6.4 per 100,000 men and women per year based on 2006-2010 deaths.

Changes Over Time

Keeping track of the number of new cases, deaths, and survival over time (trends) can help scientists understand whether progress is being made and where additional research is needed to address challenges, such as improving screening or finding better treatments.

Using statistical models for analysis, rates for new non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases have been rising on average 0.5% each year over 2002-2011. Death rates have been falling on average 2.7% each year over 2001-2010. 5-year survival trends are shown below the figure.

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

The lymphatic system is part of the immune system. The lymphatic system includes lymph vessels that branch into all the tissues of the body; lymph, clear fluid that contains white blood cells, especially lymphocytes such as B cells and T cells; and lymph nodes, where lymph vessels are connected to small, round masses of tissue. Groups of lymph nodes are found in the neck, underarms, chest, abdomen, and groin. Lymph nodes store white blood cells. They trap and remove bacteria or other harmful substances that may be in the lymph.

There are many different types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These types can be divided into aggressive (fast-growing) and indolent (slow-growing) types, and they can be formed from either B-cells or T-cells. B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas include Burkitt lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, immunoblastic large cell lymphoma, precursor B-lymphoblastic lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma. T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas include mycosis fungoides, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma.

Other parts of the lymphatic system include the tonsils, thymus, and spleen. Lymphatic tissue is also found in other parts of the body including the stomach, skin, and small intestine. Because lymphatic tissue is in many parts of the body, lymphoma can start almost anywhere. Usually, it's first found in a lymph node.

Additional Information

• Learn more about non-Hodgkin lymphoma

More Information

Here are some resources for learning more about non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

• More about risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• More about symptoms and diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• More about treatment options for non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• More about clinical trials
• More about cancer prevention

References

All statistics in this report are based on statistics from SEER and the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics. Most can be found within:

Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, Garshell J, Neyman N, Altekruse SF, Kosary CL, Yu M, Ruhl J, Tatalovich Z, Cho H, Mariotto A, Lewis DR, Chen HS, Feuer EJ, Cronin KA (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2011, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2011/, based on November 2013 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, April 2014.

Suggested Citation

All material in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.

SEER Cancer Statistics Factsheets: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/nhl.html