Immunotherapy success for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

A new drug which activates the body’s natural defences against the blood cancer has left 4 of 38 patients disease-free and five others with reductions in their tumours of more than 50 per cent.

The drug, developed by Micromet, in Bethesda, Maryland, was trialled by a team led by Dr Ralf Bargou at the University of Würzburg, Germany, and results published in this month’s Science.

The development of the drug could prove a much cheaper way of providing immunotherapy treatment than previously trialled methods such as injecting a patient with billions of their own immune cells.

It is hoped by the team that the methods used can be adjusted to tackle other cancers.