Cancer drug might help treat type 1 diabetes

There is hopeful news on the diabetes front this week. A new report in the November 25 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine says a drug used to treat cancer and rheumatoid arthritis helped type 1 diabetes patients keep producing some of their own insulin, even though the disease had destroyed some of their pancreatic beta cells. These are the cells that produce insulin. However, another researcher warned that the study does not show the drug Rituxan to be a "cure" for diabetes, but rather, a modest improvement in insulin levels. More research will be needed and it will take several years to test whether the treatment is feasible, but it's the beginning of another area of potential treatment and continued research might help lead to better control and ultimately to a cure.