CPT only copyright 2011 American Medical Association. Page 2 of 5 What You Need to Know This article explains the difference between a National Provider Identifier (NPI) and a Provider Transaction Access Number (PTAN). There are no policy changes in this article.
For people with aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, we commonly recommend a chemotherapy treatment called R-CHOP. It is named after the medicines included in the mixture: rituximab (RituxanÂ®), a monoclonal antibody that helps your immune system destroy the cancer cells and makes the chemotherapy more powerful
There are more than 60 different types of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the kind Hogan has, said Bruce Cheson, deputy chief of the hematology/oncology division in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. B cells produce antibodies that fight infection throughout the body. It is the sixth-most-common form of cancer in the United States and somewhat less curable than Hodgkin's lymphoma. We cure more than 80 percent of Hodgkin's lymphoma and the numbers are moderately lower with non-Hodgkin's aggressive lymphoma,â Cheson said. The major risk in the treatment regimen is the patient becoming resistant to chemotherapy, which generally happens within two years, Rubenstein said.