Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) is a very rare cancer of the blood. So rare in fact, that there are only 4,200 cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year and is found most often in men over the age of 60. As it turns out, this disease is a lot more wiley than scientists first suspected.

Now, according to a recent report in Science Daily, Eduardo Sotomayor, MD, director of the George Washington University Cancer Center and Jianguo Tao, MD, PhD, senior member of the Cancer Biology and Evolution Program at Moffitt Cancer Center, are hot on the trail of understanding how and why this deadly cancer can morph and find new pathways to continue it’s destruction, even after being treated with what was thought to be an effective inhibitor.

To understand the sneaky nature of this malignant cell, you have to understand just want MCL is. According to lymphoma.org, as a form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, this cancer occurs when white blood cells within the immune system grow and multiply out of control. Because these maverick cells travel through the circulatory system, they spread throughout the body, impacting lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, and organs.

Unfortunately, MCL is often diagnosed after the cancerous cells have spread, making it particularly difficult to contain and treat.

But in the past decade, new therapies have been introduced to help curtail this obscure and deadly cancer. Chemotherapy and treatments (called monoclonal antibody treatments) that target specific toxins in the body were the standard course of treatment for years. But there’s a down side. This approach often causes intolerable side effects.