Researchers have discovered a new drug that appears to slow cell growth in mantle cell lymphoma. The full article can be read here, at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) website.
The study, which is published in the journal Haematologica, presents an epigenetic drug that inhibits the HDAC6 gene. This gene is involved in modifying other proteins, and, following testing on multiple forms of cancer, the drug was found to have the greatest effect on mantle cell lymphoma.
The researchers carried out studies of the drug’s effect on rodents, cultured cells, and patient cells. In addition to seeming to slow mantle cell lymphoma progression, the drug also had a targeted effect that led to a reduced impact on healthy cells. Based on these findings, the researchers say it is possible that the drug will be further investigated as a possible treatment for mantle cell lymphoma.
Mantle cell lymphoma is a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer. It is caused by abnormal production of B cells, also known as B-lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell involved in the immune system.
These lymphoma cells then accumulate in the body, often in the lymph nodes. People affected by the disease may experience swelling, tiredness, high temperatures, and weight loss, amongst other symptoms.
The study into the drug and its effect on mantle cell lymphoma was led by Doctor Manel Esteller, who is the Director of the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program at IDIBELL. The research was a collaboration between the laboratory he works at, organic chemists, the company Quimatryx, the Hematology Services of the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Hospitalet and Badalona, and the Josep Carreas Institute.
