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Diagnosis confirmation is usually done by biopsy of lymph node or abnormal areas on scan.
Your doctor may have you undergo tests and procedures used to diagnose and to confirm the extent/spread of hodgkin's lymphoma, including:
- A physical exam
- Blood tests
- Xray/ CT scan or PET scan
- Lymph node biopsy
- Bone marrow examination
Your doctor checks for swollen lymph nodes, including in your neck, underarm and groin, as well as a swollen spleen or liver.
A sample of your blood is examined in a lab to see if anything in your blood indicates the possibility of cancer.
Your doctor may recommend imaging tests to look for signs of Hodgkin's lymphoma in other areas of your body. Tests may include X-ray, CT and positron emission tomography. Once the diagnosis is made, we can do scans to stage the disease.
Your doctor may recommend a lymph node biopsy procedure to remove a lymph node for laboratory testing. He or she will diagnose classical Hodgkin's lymphoma if abnormal cells called Reed-Sternberg cells are found within the lymph node.
A bone marrow biopsy and aspiration procedure involves inserting a needle into your hipbone to remove a sample of bone marrow. The sample is analyzed to look for Hodgkin's lymphoma cells.