Rituximab Maintenance Therapy for Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma (MZL)

Clinical Trial Summary

The clinical efficacy of rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody targeted toward the B-cell specific antigen CD20, was initially demonstrated in cases of follicular lymphoma (FL), but the use of this antibody has been extended over the last few years to the majority of subtypes of B-cell CD20 positive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, with promising results thus far. In MZL, small numbers of case reports have chronicled the use of rituximab as a single agent or phase II trial combination with chemotherapeutic regimens.

The results of the rituximab maintenance phase III trial demonstrated that patients with FL who continued to take rituximab monotherapy as a maintenance therapy after responding to an initial course of chemotherapy combined with or without rituximab experienced longer progression-free survival durations than did those who received no rituximab maintenance therapy. The efficacy of maintenance treatment after first-line induction treatment with R-chemotherapy was addressed in the international PRIMA (Primary Rituximab and Maintenance) study, which has enrolled 1,217 patients. The first results are eagerly awaited. Although MZL has better prognosis in TTP and OS than FL, both of them are classified as the same category of indolent lymphoma -characterized by frequent relapse and prolonged survival.

According to the results of our survey, advanced stage MZL tends to be an indolent disease - characterized by prolonged survival with frequent relapses. Rituximab appears to contribute to better responses, but not in TTP. Thus, we should consider maintenance treatments for MZL patients, to extend their response duration.

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Study Design

Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Lymphoma
• Lymphoma, B-Cell
• Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone