Rituximab: as first-line maintenance therapy following rituximab-containing therapy for follicular lymphoma.

Rituximab is a recombinant chimeric murine/human monoclonal IgG(1-κ) antibody. It binds specifically to the CD20 antigen on normal and malignant B lymphocytes and produces complement-dependent and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity and induces apoptosis in these cells. Prolonged treatment with rituximab in patients with follicular lymphoma results in a sustained reduction in circulating B lymphocytes. Two years of single-agent maintenance therapy with rituximab significantly prolonged progression-free survival (primary endpoint) compared with observation in patients with follicular lymphoma who were responsive to first-line induction therapy with rituximab plus chemotherapy. Furthermore, maintenance therapy with rituximab significantly delayed the time to the next antilymphoma treatment and the next chemotherapy compared with observation in these patients. Rituximab had an acceptable tolerability profile as single-agent maintenance therapy in patients with follicular lymphoma with no new or unexpected adverse events compared with induction therapy.