Cheryl Rolls is a rheumatoid arthritis patient. She has tried tons of prescription stuff and alternative medications.

But Cheryl's rheumatoid arthritis still gave her a lot of pain.

"It was absolutely horrendous. I had problems getting out of bed, walking was sometimes a problem. I had to give up some of my favorite hobbies."

In rheumatoid arthritis the immune system attacks the soft tissue that lines the joints and can damage tissue in many other parts of the body. About a third of patients do not respond well to existing treatments and that puts them at increased risk of disability. Now there are new more targeted therapies like Rituxan, an agent that's been used to treat non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. A cancer that rheumatoid arthritis patients are actually at very high risk of developing.

Dr. Kam Shojania, Rheumatologist, says, "it attacks cells that have a certain antibody on b-cells, on top of the CD20, in rheumatoid arthritis, it's important in the pathogenesis of the diease."

So, it knocks out this cell and stops the immune reaction.

Cheryl noticed changes almost immediately, "It's kind of opened up a new world for me. For instance, in between treatments, I crocheted a ponchoand made a hat. Two years ago before I went on the clinical trial, I wasn't able to do this stuff."

The treatment is given by infusion two weeks apart and the relief can last for six to nine months before another round is needed.

Dr. Shojania says, "it's been around for about eight years. More than 800,000 people have been treated with this drug. People with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. So, safety profile is quite good."

Cheryl says, "if it helps me, it'll help other people. If it's great for non-hodgkin's lymphoma fine, many other drugs are good for other illnesses. Why should I let that worry me?"

The drug is also being examined for use in other autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus.

Wednesday June 28, 2006