Expert review of anticancer therapy
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Expert Rev Anticancer Ther · Mar 2007
ReviewRituximab and its role as maintenance therapy in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Since rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody, was introduced into clinical practice in 1997, data regarding its benefit in terms of response rate, quality of response, progression-free survival and overall survival in B-cell lymphoid malignancies continues to expand. Rituximab has proven to be a relatively well-tolerated drug, with its major side effects being infusion related. ⋯ Subsequently, its use has been extended to include first-line therapy in low-grade lymphoma as well as the treatment of more aggressive histological subtypes such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. In this article, we review the landmark trials that have impacted clinical practice in follicular and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and the emerging data for use of rituximab as maintenance therapy in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.