Would the presence of lymphoma in someone's systems always cause an abnormal cell count?

No.: If there is involvment of the bone marrow, the blood may be effected as well, and cancer cells may be found on a cell count. Some types of lymphoma commonly present this way, but others may only rarely be detected on a complete blood count. Hodgkin lymphoma may cause other changes such as a high white blood count and an increase in eosinophils (a kind of normal white cell), sometimes with anemia.