Mantle cell lymphoma is a type of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It is a cancer that forms in the cells of the lymph system. Mantle cell lymphoma is considered to be a low-grade and slow growing lymphoma.

The standard of care treatment is usually the chemotherapy combination called MCP, mitoxantrone, chlorambucil, and prednisolone.

The Journal of Clinical Oncology says that the addition of Rituxan (rituximab) to the chemo combination of MCP as initial therapy can improve long term survival rates.

Since Rituxan has proved to have anti-cancer responses in other forms of NHL, researchers continue to evaluate how it can work in the treatment of various types of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

A clinical study involving 1,000 prostate cancer patients was stopped this week by Southwest Oncology Group in Michigan due to concerns the treatment may have caused leukemia in three of the participants.

The men in the study received the chemotherapy drug mitoxantrone, thought to possibly improve survival rates for those with poor prognoses following prostate surgery. But before results could be measured, leukemia struck and researchers halted the study, declaring the leukemia findings "an unacceptable risk to patients."

While the assumption is that the drug caused the leukemia -- a disease commonly associated with children and the elderly -- it's still unproved at this point.

Mitoxantrone is not a worthless drug, say some experts. Since its release a decade ago, it has been used to decrease bone pain for men with advanced prostate cancer and to treat multiple sclerosis and, ironically, adult leukemia.

Anthracyclines are a type of chemotherapy that treat several different types of cancer including (but not limited to) leukemia, lymphomas, breast, uterine, ovarian, and lung cancers. Anthracyclines are technically antibiotics, although their high toxicity precludes their use as such. A major side effect from this type of chemotherapy is that it can lead to heart problems in some patients. The risk for heart problems can remain elevated long after cancer treatment is finished.

Researchers are looking to find ways to lower the risk of patients developing heart problems after treatment without sacrificing the effectiveness of the drugs. They reviewed information from six previously published clinical trials and found that if the infusion of anthracyclines are given slower, over a period of six hour or longer, it appears to reduce the risk of heart problems.

Available anthracyclines include:

• Daunorubicin
• Doxorubicin
• Epirubicin
• Idarubicin
• Mitoxantrone