Experimental drug may reduce lymphedema swelling and scarring
Matthew Holbreich was a senior in college when the swelling started. He originally thought he had injured his left leg playing squash, but the intensity of the swelling scared him. After seeing a few doctors in Boston, where he was living at the time, he eventually was referred to Stanford Medicine's Stanley Rockson, M.D. A trip across the country resulted in a new diagnosis: lymphedema, a…
Matthew Holbreich, a former college senior, began experiencing leg swelling while playing squash. After consulting multiple physicians in Boston, he was diagnosed with lymphedema, a condition characterized by excess lymph fluid accumulation in limbs. Holbreich has endured two hospitalizations due to infections resulting from swollen tissue and must wear compression stockings daily.
There is currently no approved medication for lymphedema, but Stanford Medicine researchers and a clinical trial participant are optimistic that may change. The experimental drug acebilustat, which targets the 5-lipoxygenase pathway, alleviated many lymphedema symptoms in a clinical trial. The drug acts specifically on the 5-LO pathway, unlike ketoprofen, which affects multiple inflammatory systems and raises heart disease risk.
Lymphedema affects around 10 million people in the U.S. and likely hundreds of millions globally, often resulting from lymph node damage due to cancer treatments or other conditions. Traditional treatments involve labor-intensive physical therapy, compression garments, and daily treatments, offering only a modest improvement in disease severity.
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