The need for markers and predictors of Rituximab treatment resistance

CD20-specific antibodies show remarkable therapeutic efficacy in B-cell malignancy and autoimmune diseases, but due to the occurrence of a significant treatment resistance, a critical, unmet need for improving B-cell-depleting approaches remains. A CD20 transcript variant (D393-CD20) appears to be associated with Rituximab treatment resistance in malignant B cells, but is lacking in patients with autoimmune dermatoses as shown by Gamonet et al. While CD20-specific factors certainly play a major role in the pathogenesis of Rituximab treatment resistance, the D393-CD2 transcript may greatly facilitate the development of clinical markers for monitoring the therapy in B-cell malignancies and (auto)antibody-mediated diseases. Its association with systemic autoimmune diseases should be therefore explored in further studies.