Immunotherapy to treat Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Hey! My boyfriend is receiving immunotherapy for his hodgkin's lymphoma. He has already received 2 different chemotherapies and he has been moved onto immunotherapy (so far he's only had one cycle) and later a stem cell transplant with a high dose salvage chemotherapy in late February.

He has been doing great with the chemotherapy and the cancer is now only within one lymph node and is said to be the size of a bottle cap. However, we are having a few scares with immunotherapy and he is experiencing symptoms he had before being treated all together.

My question is can the cancer regrow whilst on immunotherapy? Is there a chance the immunotherapy has done nothing, and that the cancer has been regrowjnf since his last cycle of chemotherapy?

Thank you for your time :)

(also we are both 18 and he is very healthy otherwise) 

  • Welcome to the Cancer Chat community Hatts although I'm sorry to hear your boyfriend is having treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

    This must be very difficult for you both, especially if you noticed he's starting to experience some of the same symptoms he had before his diagnosis, but hopefully the immunotherapy, just like the chemo, will be successful in treating the cancer.

    We have some information about what immunotherapy and how it works on our website but to get the answers to the questions you've asked in your post, I'd recommend giving one of our cancer nurses a call on 0808 800 4040. Their phone lines are open Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m and they'll do all they can to help.

    Hopefully some of our members who have been on a similar journey to your boyfriend will share their experiences and advice with you soon but in the meantime, we're thinking of you and wishing your boyfriend all the best with his treatment.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator