Treatment of a patient with chronic renal failure with rituximab for a follicular lymphoma: safe and successful option of rituximab therapy

A 47-yr-old woman presented a chronic renal failure for 5 yr, with a creatinine clearance of 12 mL/min. In June 2002, she had a right axillary lymph node (of 4 cm diameter). A biopsy revealed a follicular lymphoma (histology: follicular small cleaved-cell). She had Ann Arbor stage III disease, with a high tumor burden according to the GELF criteria. She received rituximab as single first-line treatment (375 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion for a total of four dosages: days 1, 8, 15 and 22). Rituximab therapy was extremely well tolerated, and we obtained a partial response, 4 wk after completing the treatment. In January 2003, she received one maintenance course of rituximab. Six weeks after maintenance therapy, a complete response was achieved.