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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of rapid rituximab infusion (RRI) plus chemotherapy in patients with CD20+ non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).
Research design and methods: A total of 177 patients received 4 – 6 cycles of rituximab-based chemotherapy. The first cycle was given with standard schedule. In the second and subsequent cycles, RRI was initiated. Rituximab was administered as 20% of the dose infused in the first 30 min and the remaining 80% was given over 60 min. Benadryl and dexamethasone were given before infusions. Vital signs were measured at baseline and during infusion.
Results: In the first cycle, 48 patients experienced grade I – II infusion reactions and two patients showed grade III – IV infusion reactions. Six patients experienced infusion reactions during RRI. Two patients showed grade III infusion reactions to RRI and dropped out of the study. With a median follow up of 37.5 months, the 3-year overall survival and progression-free survival rates of the whole cohort were 93.1 and 81.1%, respectively.
Conclusions: Our preliminary observations suggested that RRI may be safe and feasible for patients with CD20+ NHL.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the patients and their families for participation in this study. They also thank Kai-ling Chen, for the data collection and Si-min Zhang for the data analysis.
Declaration of interest
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents, received or pending, or royalties.