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Six classes of drugs under study to treat lymphedema using mouse model

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have created a mouse model with lymphedema which will help researchers better understand lymphedema. Using their animal model they found that lymphedema is characterized not just by the presence of swelling, but by a profound, accompanying inflammation. This finding suggests drug therapies could one day be used to treat this disease.

"Ten million people in the United States have lymphedema. It's heartbreaking that the disease goes unacknowledged or unrecognized because doctors simply have no treatment to offer," said Stanley Rockson, MD, associate professor of medicine (cardiovascular) and senior author of the study. "This study opens the door to the likelihood of effective therapies."

Rockson notes that current treatment options are temporary and provide little relief. "It's like an iron lung for polio - it works, but it is certainly no way to live." His team is now looking at six classes of drugs for study, one of which has already been tested. (Source: Genetic Engineering News, July 17, 2006; Lymphatic Research Foundation)

For more information on the Lymphatic Research Foundation visit their web site at: www.lymphaticresearch.org/.