Rituximab: review and clinical applications focusing on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Rituximab (Rituxan) was the first monoclonal antibody approved for cancer therapy and the first single-agent approved for therapy of lymphoma. When combined with CHOP, rituximab is the only drug that has been shown to improve survival of a subpopulation of patients with diffuse large cell lymphoma during the last three decades. It was approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1997. Rituximab is also being studied in many other B-cell malignancies alone and in combination with other agents. Furthermore, it is currently being evaluated in several nonmalignant diseases, such as autoimmune disorders. This review will focus on the role of rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.