Lymphoma is not incurable, “Can lymphoma be cured?” Let the experts tell you: lymphoma is not incurable! Lymphoma often spreads throughout the body, and for some patients, a complete cure is possible. For other patients, treatment can prolong life and improve symptoms for years. The likelihood of cure or long-term survival depends on the stage of the lymphoma and the site of dissemination. Of course, the decision to use chemotherapy can be difficult for both the patient and the physician. Although chemotherapy can greatly increase a patient’s chances of being cured, its side effects are significant. Chemotherapy drugs can cause transient or lasting sterility, increase the risk of infection, and cause hair loss. Leukemia can occur in some patients 5-10 years or more after radiation or chemotherapy. However, such treatment is still the best option for patients with malignant lymphoma. Radiation therapy plus chemotherapy for lymphoma is highly effective (1) Most Hodgkin’s disease can be cured with either or both radiation and chemotherapy. Radiation therapy alone can lead to cure in more than 90% of patients with stage I or II disease. Treatment is administered on an outpatient basis only and takes about 4-5 weeks. The radiation sites are the involved lymph nodes and peripheral lymph nodes. Significantly enlarged lymph nodes in the chest should be given chemotherapy before or after radiotherapy, and 85% of patients can be cured by this combined treatment. (2) The treatment of stage III Hodgkin’s disease varies with each case. If the patient is asymptomatic, radiation therapy alone may sometimes be given. It can be cured in 65-75% of patients. The addition of chemotherapy can increase the likelihood of cure to 75-80%. If the patient is symptomatic, chemotherapy should be given or radiation therapy added to it. The cure rate for such patients is between 70-80%. (3) Combination chemotherapy is usually used for stage IV patients. Each chemotherapy cycle lasts for 1 month, and the total course of treatment is 6 months or more. Other combination chemotherapy regimens are still available. Even for this advanced stage patients, more than 50% of patients can still be cured.