Researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday say, it is possible to slow down the development of newly discovered type 1 or juvenile diabetes with the help of Rituxan, a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cancer) and rheumatoid arthritis treatment drug.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease in which the body’s own immune system destroys the critical insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Apparently, the drug interferes with the body’s auto-immune system that mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Generically known as rituximab, Rituxan is manufactured by Roche Holding AG and Biogen Idec Inc.’s unit – Genentech, and designed to wipe out B lymphocytes or immune cells proliferating out of control in the lymphoma. The same cells that are also involved in rheumatoid arthritis due to the auto-immune destruction of healthy cells and tissue, including in juvenile diabetes, theoretically.

Usually, 80 to 90% of the insulin-producing cells have been destroyed, by the time the symptoms of diabetes appear.

In order to save the remaining cells, the researchers gave Rituxan and at first the treatment worked, as the body was able to produce more insulin. However, over time as the effects of the medication faded, insulin production declined.

Additional tests revealed that repeated Rituxan or newer drug treatments for eliminating B lymphocytes helped keep insulin production up.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, about 15,000-American children and teenagers are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every year, which also accounts for about 5% of diabetes cases, globally.