I'm so sorry to post a new message but I didn't ask the right question before. I am displaying all the symptoms of lymphoma but have no enlarged lymph nodes (only enlarged spleen). CT scans have been done on my chest, abdomen and pelvis and there is nothing but the spleen enlargement. The reason I asked about the bone marrow biopsy is because I don't now how they are going to diagnose/rule out lymphoma if they can't biopsy an enlarged node and I know its not possible to biopsy the spleen. I so confused, please help.

Although the spleen cannot be removed for biopsy (except in emergency cases), a needle aspiration is possible. This is done using imaging equipment (usually CT or ultrasound) for guidance. A bone marrow biopsy will only tell you if there is lymphoma in the bone marrow. If it is contained to the spleen, that test will be negative.

I would ask for further imaging studies of the spleen. Is the spleen simply enlarged, or were there other abnormalities (eg lesions)? From an ultrasound, a radiologist can study the surface of the spleen. An MRI scan offers higher definition images than CT scans, but it is not much used in the diagnosis of lymphoma. An MRI of the spleen could also be useful for examining lesions.

In order to perform a needle biopsy of the spleen, they would usually have to have found a lesion to take samples from, otherwise it would be like stabbing in the dark.

Again thank you for taking the time to answer my concerns!