Durable remission induced by rituximab-containing chemotherapy in a patient with primary refractory Burkitt's

A Yokohama1, N Tsukamoto, H Uchiumi

  • 1Third Department of Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Showa-cho, Maebashi, 371-8511 Gunma, Japan. ayoko@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp

Annals of Hematology
|September 27, 2003
PubMed

We describe a 65-year-old man diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma arising from the intestine. The tumor cells had a mature B-cell immunophenotype and rearrangement of the c-myc gene. The patient was treated with intensive multiagent chemotherapy. After four courses of chemotherapy, an ileus developed due to a residual abdominal disease. We administered rituximab in combination with the same chemotherapy regimen. A dramatic clinical improvement was observed and abnormal uptake by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography disappeared. The patient experienced complete remission for 1 year. This encouraging result indicates that rituximab might be an important treatment choice in management of Burkitt's lymphoma.