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Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Treatments evolving
25 Apr 2008
Treatments for lymphoma are constantly developing with more than a dozen new therapies currently in the pipeline, it has been claimed.
Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell in the immune system.
One of the most common forms is non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) which includes B-cell lymphoma and T-cell lymphomas.
US researchers have stressed that the complexity and variation of lymphomas often does not allow a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to treatment.
Highly specialised and individual treatments are therefore necessary for successful targeting of this type of cancer, experts at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Centre who are working on treatments, say.
Of these, PDX (pralatrexate), designed to treat T-cell lymphoma, has been hailed as "one of the most promising new therapies" currently being developed at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH).
The drug, which has been effective in 54 per cent of patients who did not respond to other treatments, is designed to camouflage itself as a folic acid, allowing it to be absorbed by the tumour, where it can attack the cancer.
Researchers are also exploring novel lymphoma treatments that are not chemotherapies including drugs targeting Bcl-6, an enzyme known as histone deacetylase. It is hoped that these treatments may help to lower the amount of chemotherapy necessary for remission.
"By increasing the number and quality of treatment options for lymphoma patients, we are improving their chances for survival. This is especially critical for patients who haven't responded to standard therapies," Dr Owen O'Connor, chief of the lymphoma service at NYPH, said.
Rates of NHL have nearly doubled since the 1970s, with overall five-year survival rates at 59 per cent.
Click here to learn more about Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
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