Positive results for rituximab revealed at ASCO

Maintenance therapy with the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab [Rituxan] following an initial course of chemotherapy produces marked improvements in progression-free survival among patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), according to a study presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) [New Orleans, US; June 2004]. After 2 years, almost twice as many rituximab recipients were free of disease progression, compared with those who received no further therapy (73% vs 43%). Other data presented at the meeting show extremely positive survival benefits for younger patients with aggressive NHL, and may change the standard of care for this disease. In this study, patients who received rituximab in combination with chemotherapy had an overall survival rate of 95% at 2 years. In a third study, previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) had significantly higher remission rates and prolonged time to treatment failure when treated with first-line rituximab plus chemotherapy, compared with chemotherapy alone.