Taking on a lethal blood cancer.Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma non-Hodg·kin's lymphoma n. Any of various malignant lymphomas characterized by the absence of Reed-Sternberg cells. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is mainly a malignancy of antibody-making immune cells called B lymphocytes. While drugs have helped many patients fend off some forms of this cancer, an aggressive form known as mantle-cell lymphoma often recurs after chemotherapy. This lymphoma arises from B cells that form a mantle around the inner core of lymph nodes Lymph nodes Small, bean-shaped masses of tissue scattered along the lymphatic system that act as filters and immune monitors, removing fluids, bacteria, or cancer cells that travel through the lymph system. . Researchers now report that a drug called bortezomib, already approved for use against the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma multiple myeloma A malignant proliferation of abnormal plasma cells that populate the marrow-containing bones of the body. The affected plasma cells produce myeloma protein, a monoclonal antibody that replaces normal antibodies in the blood, thereby increasing susceptibility , helped patients with mantle-cell lymphoma who had failed to improve on three previous treatment regimens. Of 26 patients receiving infusions of bortezomib, 14 had a complete remission complete remission Complete response Oncology Disappearance of all signs and symptoms of disease–eg, cancer, multiple sclerosis, with normalization of all biochemical and radiologic parameters, as well as a negative repeat biopsy–pathologic remission. that, in some, lasted more than a year, says Owen A. O'Connor of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Nine others saw their disease stabilize during the months following treatment, and the cancer progressed in three people. Bortezomib is called Velcade by its maker Millennium Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, Mass. |
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