Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office has launched a new clinical trial to treat lymphoma patients using the body’s own immune system to attack cancerous B cells. (Image National Cancer Institute/Louis M Staudt)
Lymphocytic B cells are specialised immune cells that work as the factories of the immune system, pumping out antibodies into the blood stream. These antibodies then home in on targets recognised as harmful to the body and direct immune cells to attack them. However, in B-cell lymphoma, far more B cells are produced that the body needs.
Now, a new therapy uses the body’s own weapons against the tumour. In the current Cancer Research UK (CRUK) trial, an antibody, (DI-B4) has been designed to target a molecular marker specific to B cells and precursor cells destined to become B cells. By binding to this marker, the antibody signals other immune cells to attack and destroy these B cells.
B-cell lymphoma accounts for 40% of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), of which there are about 9400 cases every year in the UK.
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