Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026
In Vitro Methods for Comparing Target Binding and CDC Induction Between Therapeutic Antibodies: Applications in Biosimilarity Analysis
Published on: May 4, 2017
Rituximab in the treatment of EBV-positive low grade B-cell lymphoma
Panagiotis T Diamantopoulos1, Katerina Polonyfi, Maria Sofotasiou
1Hematology Unit, First Department of Internal Medicine Laikon General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece. noravi@med.uoa.gr.
Background:
Following infection of B lymphocytes by Epstein Barr virus (EBV), the viral genome remains in the nucleus, and a latency phase is established, during which only a small proportion of the viral genes are expressed. Among them, LMP1 is essential for transformation. Rituximab is a potent agent used in the treatment of low grade B-cell lymphomas and is also widely used for the treatment of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders caused by EBV. The effect of rituximab treatment on the latent EBV infection in non-transplant patients with lymphoproliferative disorders has never been studied to our knowledge.
Patients And Methods:
We studied, the effect of rituximab-based immunochemotherapy on the EBV status of 44 patients with leukemic low grade B-cell lymphoma.
Results:
After three cycles of rituximab-based treatment, only 1/17 patients was still positive for EBV.
Discussion:
Our results suggest that rituximab used in the treatment of EBV-positive low-grade lymphoma is efficient in eradicating the virus from the peripheral blood, a fact with potential implications in the course and prognosis of the disease.
![Dynamic Imaging of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells with [18F]Tetrafluoroborate Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront.jove.com%2FCDNSource%2Fteasers%2F62334.jpg&w=3840&q=50)
