Norton Cancer Institute has enlisted the first patient ever to participate in a clinical trial studying a potential new drug to treat a type of rare lymphoma. The female patient will receive a drug designed to exploit an abnormality in lymphoma cells as part of an international study.

“It’s important for our patients to have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials,” said Don A. Stevens, M.D., medical oncologist and co-founder of Norton Cancer Institute.

This trial is one of 10 clinical trials for lymphoma alone currently underway at Norton Cancer Institute. These include trials for chronic leukemia, acute leukemia, multiple myeloma, myelodysplasia and myelofibrosis. Three other trials are pending and will open soon.

Norton Cancer Institute has clinical trials for patients who have not yet been treated and those whose front-line therapy has failed.

“Giving patients the option of experimental treatments is vital to the care that Norton Cancer Institute provides,” Dr. Stevens said.