A recent study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine has revealed that widely used drug for the treatment of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, Rituxan, might slow the progression of newly discovered type-1 diabetes, by preserving insulin cells. The medicine has been found helpful in interfering with the body's destruction of insulin producing cells in the pancreas, thereby sustaining them for longer.

The study was led by Dr. Mark Pescovitz and is being considered an important breakthrough in the US where diabetes is one of the fastest spreading epidemics. Commonly known as Rituximab. Rituxan is manufactured and marketed jointly by Genentech, a division of Swiss drug-maker Roche Holding, and Biogen Idec Inc. The original purpose of the drug is to try and eliminate immune cells known as B lymphocytes from the body, which proliferate out of control in lymphoma.

By the time type 1 diabetes is discovered, about 80-90% of the insulin producing cells are already expected to have been affected. But the researchers now feel that with Rituxan, this damage can be controlled, and new diabetes's progress and development can be curbed. “What this study does is open the door to a whole new way to approaching type-1 diabetes", Dr. Pescovitz explained.

Although these findings are being considered much valuable in the treatment and management of diabetes, the effects have been found to be short term, and after a little while, the medicine stops helping insulin cells fight back. Researchers are now asserting that further studies based on this cue have good chances of leading doctors and scientists to ensuring that the effects last longer.