Serge Ginella has battled a chronic type of lymphoma for years. Keeping the cancer in check is an ongoing process. Recently, he tried chemotherapy pills.

"With the pills, that's fantastic. That's really very, very helpful for a cancer patient," said Ginella.

The experimental drug, called FOS-D, targets a cell in the immune system that plays a key role in lymphoma.

"The B cell receptor is a protein on the surface of many non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and it's been determined that signaling through that receptor helps these lymphoma cells survive," said Dr. Jonathan Friedberg.

To stop that dangerous signal from getting through the B cell receptor, the drug blocks a neighboring protein.

"So this is an intelligently-designed drug that focuses on one specific pathway that we think is critical to lymphoma survival," said Friedberg.

Because the drug is focused on B cells, Friedberg says it's easier on the body.

"So, with treatments like this, you don't lose your hair, you generally don't have nausea and vomiting," said Friedberg.

Results were promising but varied, and depended on the type of lymphoma.

"A problem has been durability and the majority of patients, after experiencing this, after a few months, did have disease come back in some form or another," said Friedberg.

Though the pill didn't stop the disease for Ginella, he's still glad it gave him a brief break from the needles of chemo. The chemo pill is still under study and researchers are planning to open a new and expanded round of clinical studies by the end of 2009.