A new discovery holds out hope that patients with a certain kind of cancer may be able to lead longer, healthier lives – those who have follicular lymphoma may benefit from the use of the drug rituximab, which doctors say will increase the number of years they will remain healthy.
If the drug is taken before the outer manifestation of the symptoms, this could help to delay the onset of the cancer.
When people are diagnosed with the disease they often have the outer manifestations of the cancer other than some swelling in the groin or the neck, or the armpit area.
In this disease, clinical intervention appears to make no difference and so patients hitherto have been advised to wait and watch. However now, with this new treatment, it was found that the need to have chemotherapy was significantly reduced in the sufferers.
This presents another option for managing the disease in the early years, says Dr Kirit Ardeshna, a haematologist at University College Hospital (UCH), London.
This offers fresh hope to people hoping to lead a healthier life for a longer time even after having been diagnosed with the cancer.
