Seattle Genetics marketed drug Adcetris was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday to treat two cancers ? Hodgkin lymphoma and a rare lymphoma called systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Adcetris is an antibody-drug that targets a type of lymphoma cell called CD30. It is the first treatment approved by the FDA for fighting Hodgkin lymphoma since 1977, and also the first made to specifically treat anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Early clinical data suggest that patients who received Adcetris for Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic anaplastic lymphoma experienced a significant response to the therapy, said Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Oncology Drug Products, in a statement.

The National Cancer Institute, or NCI, estimates that 8,830 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma will be diagnosed in the United States in 2011. About 1,300 people will die from the disease.

The most common side effects experienced with Adcetris are decrease in infection-fighting white blood cells, nerve damage, fatigue, nausea, anemia, upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, fever, cough, vomiting, and low blood platelet levels, the FDA said.

Infection Cancer Lymphoma Lymphoma