CHICAGO (Reuters) – Merck & Co. Inc. on Monday said U.S. regulators approved the drugmaker’s new treatment for a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in patients who have failed other therapies. Merck said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment, called Zolinza, for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma for those with progressive, persistent or recurrent forms of the disease. Zolinza, also known as vorinostat or suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), is in a new class of anti-cancer therapies called histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. Histone deacetylation is thought to be a mechanism for silencing some tumour suppressor genes and other genes responsible for cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation.
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