Peripheral T cell lymphoma: clinical utility of romidepsin

ipheral T cell lymphoma: clinical utility of romidepsin Review (1572) Total Article Views Authors: Zain J, Sawey K Published Date June 2012 Volume 2012:2 Pages 109 - 115 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/BLCTT.S22585 Received: 01 March 2012 Accepted: 30 March 2012 Published: 13 June 2012 Jasmine Zain, Kathryn Sawey NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, USA Introduction: Direct therapeutic targets, such as aberrant tumor cell genes and tumor cell markers, have been the focus of cancer treatment for more than 50 years. The resulting damage to normal cells and emergence of drug-resistant tumor cells after exposure to conventional chemotherapy have led researchers to study indirect targets, like the tumor vasculature. A more recent indirect approach involves targeting the epigenetic modifiers, DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase. Histone deacetylase inhibitors have been shown to be active cytotoxic agents in T cell lymphoma. The current treatments approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for relapsed cutaneous T cell lymphoma are vorinostat and romidepsin. The diversity and rarity of peripheral T cell lymphomas present a challenge for effective treatment. With their poor overall survival rate, new targeted therapies need to be developed.