Rituximab zur Therapie des Non-Hodgkin-Lymphoms

Rituximab is the first monoclonal antibody to be approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Compared to chemotherapy alone, the combination of rituximab and chemotherapy is superior for all indications so far tested. For the primary therapy of follicular lymphoma with rituximab and chemotherapy, there are now four large, randomized studies available, all of which show a statistically significant and clinically relevant prolongation of life due to the combination therapy. Thus, rituximab is today the standard primary therapy for this form of lymphoma. In addition, two other phase III studies show that treatment with rituximab also leads to a prolongation of life in patients suffering from recurrent follicular lymphoma. This is the case for both combined rituximab/chemotherapy induction treatment, as well as for rituximab maintenance therapy, which is also highly effective after the rituximab/chemotherapy and is well tolerated. The risk of dying is halved by the use of rituximab maintenance therapy, indicating that rituximab is the best available therapy for recurrent follicular lymphoma, as well as for the induction of remission of the disease and as a maintenance therapy. In cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, rituximab combined with chemotherapy is the therapeutic standard, with four large, randomized studies showing a clear improvement in cure rate. This applies to all age groups and risk categories, which may, however, differ in the number of therapy cycles and the dose rate.