Radionuclide therapy of lymphomas

Radioimmunotherapy is an effective therapy for NHL in a variety of settings and is well tolerated. Current studies continue to investigate the role of NHL at various time points in the management of patients with NHL. The limited clinical use of RIT seems to have been driven by economics rather than by a lack of clinical effectiveness. As new radiolabeled agents and indications and nonradioactive agents are being investigated, probably in parallel with nonradioactive agents, close collaborations between medical oncologists and nuclear medicine physicians/radiologists are paramount for optimal integration of these agents into the overall treatment schema for patients with lymphoma. Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) for treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been undergoing investigations since the early 1990s and became available for clinical use to treat relapsed/refractoryNHL in the early 2000s. Since then, the indications for the use of RIT in NHL have been expanded. RIT for NHL is an effective therapy; however, the use in clinical practice has been limited as there are multiple other competing nonradioactive therapies for NHL, several developed in the past few years. This chapter will provide a review of the current and possible future roles of RIT in patients with lymphoma.