Most people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma have no known risk factors, so there was no way to prevent their lymphomas from developing. For now, the best way to reduce the risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma is to try to prevent known risk factors such as immune deficiency.

The most common preventable cause of immune deficiency is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Blood transfusions are now an extremely rare source of HIV infection. HIV is spread among adults mostly through unprotected sex and by injection drug users sharing contaminated needles. Curbing the spread of HIV would prevent many deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Treating HIV with anti-HIV drugs also lowers the chance of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Preventing the spread of the human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV-1) could have a great impact on non-Hodgkin lymphoma in areas of the world where this virus is common, such as Japan and the Caribbean region. The virus is rare in the United States but seems to be increasing in some areas. The same strategies used to prevent HIV spread could also help control HTLV-1.

Helicobacter pylori infection has been linked to some lymphomas of the stomach. Treating H. pylori infections with antibiotics and antacids may lower this risk, but the benefit of this strategy has not been proven yet. Most people with H. pylori infection have no symptoms, and some have only mild heartburn. Finding the best way to detect and treat this infection in people without symptoms will require more research.

Some lymphomas are caused by treatment of cancers with radiation and chemotherapy or by the use of immune system-suppressing drugs to avoid rejection of transplanted organs. Doctors are trying to find better ways to treat cancer and organ transplant patients without increasing the risk of lymphoma as much. But for now, the benefits of these treatments still usually outweigh the small risk of developing lymphoma many years later.

Last Medical Review: 07/17/2009
Last Revised: 07/17/2009