Treatment of benign orbital pseudolymphomas with the monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody rituximab

To report the results of treating patients with orbital pseudolymphomas with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab.

Patients were included in the study if they had an orbital mass and biopsy-proven orbital pseudolymphomas between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2005. The study focused on patients treated with rituximab.

Ninety-eight patients were evaluated, and the biopsy results revealed malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 72 (73%); the other 26 (27%) had a pseudolymphoma. Eleven (42%) of the 26 patients with a pseudolymphoma were treated with rituximab, 375 mg/m2, intravenously each week for 4 doses, and 10 (91%) of the 11 responded. Seven patients were either treated with maintenance rituximab or successfully retreated with rituximab after relapse. None of the 10 responders has become refractory to rituximab.

Benign lymphoproliferative tumors are responsive to monoclonal antibody therapy targeted to B lymphocytes. Rituximab should be considered a treatment option for orbital pseudolymphomas.