Q: Why are there more cancers of the lymphatic system than of the vascular system?

A: Probably because lymphomas are a disease of lymphocytes. Anytime a cell starts to divide, it's at higher risk of getting additional hits. In contrast with a myeloid cell, the myeloid cell is there. But you have a system like the lymphoid system where our lymphoid cells are. What they do for a living is they just divide and stimulate constantly, constantly, constantly. And I think the sheer number of all these different things going on just puts them at higher risk.

In fact, we know from a conceptual point of view that that is in fact a risk. Because if you look at autoimmune disorders, where there is an abnormal activation of the immune system, it's usually lymphocytes against a normal target. Those patients all have an increased risk of getting lymphoid diseases.