TY - JOUR
T1 - Maintenance rituximab in follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma
T2 - Facts and controversies
AU - Nabhan, Chadi
AU - Smith, Sonali M.
AU - Kahl, Brad S.
PY - 2012/5/1
Y1 - 2012/5/1
N2 - The advent of rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against CD20, has arguably improved and changed the natural history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has become an essential component of front-line and relapsed disease treatment strategies. Given its tolerability and long half-life, rituximab has been investigated in the maintenance setting in follicular lymphoma. Several landmark studies have demonstrated improvement in progression-free survival in patients receiving maintenance rituximab compared to those observed. These favorable results were witnessed in front-line and in the relapsed setting using a variety of induction programs such as rituximab monotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. Importantly, toxicities were predictable and manageable. Despite these encouraging results, many vital and practical questions remain unanswered. In this review, we critically analyze the data that led to the widespread use of maintenance rituximab in follicular lymphoma and attempt to answer the most important questions facing practicing oncologists when deciding on using this approach in their patients.
AB - The advent of rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against CD20, has arguably improved and changed the natural history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has become an essential component of front-line and relapsed disease treatment strategies. Given its tolerability and long half-life, rituximab has been investigated in the maintenance setting in follicular lymphoma. Several landmark studies have demonstrated improvement in progression-free survival in patients receiving maintenance rituximab compared to those observed. These favorable results were witnessed in front-line and in the relapsed setting using a variety of induction programs such as rituximab monotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. Importantly, toxicities were predictable and manageable. Despite these encouraging results, many vital and practical questions remain unanswered. In this review, we critically analyze the data that led to the widespread use of maintenance rituximab in follicular lymphoma and attempt to answer the most important questions facing practicing oncologists when deciding on using this approach in their patients.
KW - Rituximab
KW - follicular lymphoma
KW - immunotherapy
KW - maintenance
KW - maintenance rituximab
KW - non-Hodgkin lymphoma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859988265&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/10428194.2011.628061
DO - 10.3109/10428194.2011.628061
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21958083
AN - SCOPUS:84859988265
VL - 53
SP - 770
EP - 778
JO - Leukemia and Lymphoma
JF - Leukemia and Lymphoma
SN - 1042-8194
IS - 5
ER -