Can Lymphoma of the Skin Be Prevented?

Most lymphomas of the skin have no known cause, so there is no sure way to prevent them from developing.

Having a weakened immune system may raise your risk of skin lymphoma, so making sure your immune system stays healthy might be one way to limit your risk. An example of this would be to avoid known risk factors for infection with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), such as intravenous drug use or unprotected sex with someone whose HIV status is unknown. You can read more about HIV infection in HIV, AIDS, and Cancer.

The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team

Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.

Foss FM, Gibson JF, Edelson RL, Wilson LD. Chapter 104: Cutaneous lymphomas. In: DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2015.

Querfeld C, Rosen ST. Chapter 107: Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and cutaneous B-cell lymphoma. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Dorshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa. Elsevier: 2014.

Last Medical Review: March 29, 2018 Last Revised: March 29, 2018

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Causes, Risk Factors, and Prevention