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NCI funded the development of rituximab, one of the first monoclonal antibody cancer treatments. With the discovery of rituximab, more than 70 percent of patients diagnosed with non-hodgkin lymphoma now live five years past their initial diagnosis.
Via Krishan Maggon
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded the development of rituximab, one of the firstmonoclonal antibody (antibodies that target one specific protein) cancer treatments. It plays a key role in increasing survival for patients with NHL.Prior to the introduction of rituximab in 1997, the number of new cases of NHL increased each year. Since then, deaths from NHL have gone down each year and continue to drop.Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the most common form of blood cancer in adults. In 2012, an estimated 70,130 new cases of NHL were diagnosed in the United States.NHL most often arises from B cells, which are immune cells responsible for producingantibodies. Rituxan remains Roche top selling medicine and anticancer monoclonal antibody in 2013 and during the past 5 years.