An Irvine drug maker, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., has said that it got regulatory approval for an expanded use of a cancer drug.

Spectrum said that the FDA approved Zevalin as an early treatment for a blood cancer, in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The drug was used previously on patients whose tumors did not respond to other treatments.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and Cell Therapeutics have entered into an agreement to form a 50:50 owned joint venture, RIT Oncology, to commercialize and develop Zevalin in the United States.