Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Extended Rituximab (anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody) therapy for relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against the B-cell CD20 antigen which has been utilized for therapy of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A previous clinical trial demonstrated that treatment with four weekly doses of 375 mg/m2 of Rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was well tolerated and had significant clinical activity. ⋯ The safety profile and efficacy achieved in this pilot study of extended treatment with Rituximab compares favorably with those seen with four weekly doses. Further studies are warranted to investigate whether this or other extended Rituximab schedules will result in increased efficacy in all or in certain subgroups of patients with low-grade or follicular NHL.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A randomized crossover trial assessing patient preference for two different types of portable infusion-pump devices.
A variety of anticancer agents are better tolerated and more effective if given as continuous compared to bolus administration. Portable pump devices are needed to allow outpatient continuous infusion. Different types of portable pumps are available and we tested patient preference in a randomized crossover design. ⋯ In the interest of patient comfort, the disposable elastomeric infusor is an acceptable alternative to the more accurate electronically controlled pumps especially for drugs with a short half-life and a favorable toxicity profile.