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Review Article

Maintenance rituximab in follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma: facts and controversies

, &
Pages 770-778 | Received 04 Jul 2011, Accepted 24 Sep 2011, Published online: 24 Oct 2011
 

Abstract

The advent of rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against CD20, has arguably improved and changed the natural history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has become an essential component of front-line and relapsed disease treatment strategies. Given its tolerability and long half-life, rituximab has been investigated in the maintenance setting in follicular lymphoma. Several landmark studies have demonstrated improvement in progression-free survival in patients receiving maintenance rituximab compared to those observed. These favorable results were witnessed in front-line and in the relapsed setting using a variety of induction programs such as rituximab monotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. Importantly, toxicities were predictable and manageable. Despite these encouraging results, many vital and practical questions remain unanswered. In this review, we critically analyze the data that led to the widespread use of maintenance rituximab in follicular lymphoma and attempt to answer the most important questions facing practicing oncologists when deciding on using this approach in their patients.

Potential conflict of interest:

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.informahealthcare.com/lal.

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