Monoclonal antibody therapies include Herceptin (described left) and Rituxan (rituximab), which has had unparalleled success in treating lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes, part of the body’s immune system). Rituximab locks onto a protein called CD20, found on the surface of one of the main types of normal white blood cells (b lymphocytes) 21. CD20 is also present on the surface of most abnormal b lymphocytes associated with most types of non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Rituximab attacks both malignant and normal b lymphocytes, but the risk of side effects is very small because the body quickly replaces normal cells that have been damaged
