New Treatment Approaches to Indolent Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Abstract

Disseminated indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is considered incurable with conventional chemotherapy regimens, and more than 50% of patients die within 5 years of their first relapse. Therefore, newer treatment approaches have been used to try to improve survival and ultimately provide a cure for patients with disseminated indolent NHL. The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab has been extensively evaluated and is now an integral component of many treatment strategies. The activity of rituximab was first shown in the pivotal trial in patients with relapsed and refractory low-grade and follicular lymphoma. More recent studies have shown somewhat higher activity of rituximab when used ..