I am an oncologist. Obviously I don’t have access to Fred Thompson’s pathology reports and staging studies (and if I did, I be barred from discussing them here by doctor-patient privilege), but in general, the natural history of low grade, indolent lymphoma is very long, and most patients die of something other than their lymphoma.
Based on what has come out today, it appears the specific lymphoma he has is “Nodal Marginal-Zone B-Cell Lymphoma”.
This has not been explicitly stated, but his oncologist stated he had “marginal zone lymphoma”, and it was spotted in a lymph node in his neck.
Do you have any additional comments on this particular kind of lymphoma?