Vnitr̆ní lékar̆ství
-
Vnitr̆ní lékar̆ství · Jul 2015
[Rituximab infusion-related toxicity in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia].
Rituximab in combination with chemotherapy is an effective treatment of patients (pts) with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The most frequent adverse event of rituximab is infusion-related toxicity, e.g. cytokine-release syndrome that occurs usually during the first infusion. However, there is scarce data on feasibility and tolerability of rituximab infusions in CLL outside clinical trials. Therefore, we performed a single-center retrospective analysis of the frequency of rituximab infusion-related adverse events during the first- and the second line CLL treatment administered in the routine practice. We also analyzed its relation to parameters of tumor load and possible association with treatment efficacy. The safety of rapid infusion of rituximab in CLL pts was also evaluated. ⋯ Rituximab infusion-related toxicity in pts with CLL is relatively frequent (32%). However, occurrence of infusion-related symptoms can be reduced by proper premedication and severe adverse events are uncommon. In our experience, all patients were able to receive the planned dose of rituximab. Subsequent doses of rituximab could be safely administered by rapid-infusion protocol. We did not find statistically significant association between rituximab infusion toxicity and effectiveness of treatment.