The main symptom is to feel the enlarged lymph nodes on the body, which are painless and itchy in the early stage, so it is often ignored by people. About 60% of lymphatic cancers are firstly found in the enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, which start with a single enlarged node, but slowly increase in number and become more enlarged. Lymphoma can occur in lymphatic tissues all over the body, such as mandible, lower jaw, anterior neck, supraclavicular region, armpit, groin, mediastinal cavity or adjacent to the arteries of the abdomen, and sometimes it can occur in the organs and cause compression symptoms; if it occurs in the stomach, small intestines, or large intestines, it may have symptoms of peptic ulcers or gastrointestinal dysfunction, such as abdominal distension, blood in stools, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc.; if lymphoma infringes on the bone marrow, it may cause pancytopenia such as pallor, fever, abnormal bleeding, and hematemesis. If lymphoma invades the bone marrow, it may cause pancytopenia such as pale face, fever, abnormal bleeding, and sometimes abnormal lymphocytes can be seen in the peripheral blood.

This disease is equivalent to "stone gangrene", "yin gangrene", "evil gonorrhea", "evil nucleus", "loss of honor" and "loss of glory" in Chinese medicine. Its disease is due to cold phlegm stagnation, qi and phlegm, liver and kidney yin deficiency.

Due to the different sites and ranges of lymphoma cell invasion, the clinical manifestations are very inconsistent. The primary site can be either within the lymph nodes or in the lymphatic tissue outside the lymph nodes. However, in general, there are the following three manifestations:

(1) Local manifestations

(1) Enlargement of lymph nodes, including superficial and deep lymph nodes, which is characterized by the enlarged lymph nodes being progressive, painless, hard, and pushable, and they are not adherent to each other in early stage, but can be fused in late stage, and anti-inflammatory and anti-tuberculosis treatments are ineffective. Superficial lymph nodes are more common in the neck, followed by axilla and groin. Deeper lymph nodes are more common in the mediastinum and adjacent to the abdominal aorta. (2)Enlarged lymph nodes cause local compression symptoms: mainly refers to the deep lymph nodes, such as enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, compression of the esophagus can cause dysphagia; compression of the superior vena cava causes superior vena cava syndrome; compression of the trachea leads to coughing, tightness in the chest, dyspnea and cyanosis.

(2), systemic symptoms

(1) fever: fever is irregular, between 38-39C for many years, some patients may be persistent high fever, or intermittent low fever, and a few have periodic fever. (2)Emaciation:Most patients have the manifestation of weight loss, more than 10% of the original body weight within 6 months. (3)Night sweats:Sweating at night or after going to sleep.

(3) Extranodal lesions

Lymphoma can invade all tissues and organs of the body. For example, liver and spleen infiltration causes liver enlargement; gastrointestinal infiltration causes abdominal pain, abdominal distension, intestinal obstruction and hemorrhage; lung and pleura infiltration causes cough and pleural effusion; bone infiltration causes bone pain and pathologic bone fracture; skin infiltration causes itchy skin and subcutaneous nodules; tonsils and mouth, nose and pharynx infiltration causes difficulty in swallowing, nasal congestion, nasal neurons; neurological infiltration causes spinal cord compression, cranial neuropathy and so on. Once patients have the above symptoms and signs, they should go to the hospital for examination in order to clarify whether they have lymphoma.

Clinical common patterns

(1) Yin cold stagnation type: the evidence shows that the lymph nodes in the neck are enlarged, not painful, not itchy, the skin color is like normal, hard as a stone, accompanied by fatigue, cold limb cold, poor gastrointestinal performance, the tongue is light and red, the tongue moss is thick and greasy, and the pulse is fine.

(2) Liver-qi stagnation type: the evidence shows that the neck, armpits and groin lymph nodes are enlarged, the skin color is like normal, the push is unwavering, painless and itchy, accompanied by emotional impatience, chest tightness and discomfort, swelling of the two hypochondriacs, weakness and fatigue, the tongue coating is thin or there are petechiae, the pulse is stringy or stringy and slippery.

(3) Liver and kidney yin deficiency type: evidence of five heartburn, afternoon hot flashes, lumbar, knee and leg weakness, fatigue, emaciation, multiple lymph node enlargement, red tongue, thin tongue coating, pulse is thin or fine string.

(4) Weakness of the spleen qi type: evidence of neck and neck swelling nucleus, limb weakness, pale, poor appetite, shortness of breath when moving, thin and greasy tongue coating, pulse fine and weak.

Lymphoma has no obvious complications in early stage, but in late stage, with the progress of lesions, there are clinical manifestations of infection and invasion of corresponding tissues and organs.

Lymphoma has no obvious complications in the early stage.