Cancer Treatment Today

Recent literature suggests that a subgroup of Hairy Cell Leukemia(NCL), sometimes called Variant Hairy Cell Leukemia(HCL-V)l  my in fact be a different disease not related to HCL at all and which my respond to rituximab to a much higher extent than common Hairy Cell does. It is thought that this variant is what used to be called Leukemic Reticuloendotheliosis in the past. It is an uncommon disorder accounting for approximately 0.4% of chronic lymphoid

Neuromyelitis Optica, also called Devic's Syndrome, is similar to multiple sclerosis but more rapidly progressive and affects optic nerves to a greater degree. There is phase II data to support rituxan for multiple sclerosis, primarily from the double-blind, multicenter Helping to Evaluate Rituxan in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (HERMES) trial. It randomized 104 patients 2:1 to rituximab or placebo. The drug was given at 1,000 mg IV on

You have glomerulonephritis, a condition characterized by inflammation that attacks the glomeruli, the filter in the kidney that produces the urine. A number of types of glomerulonephritis exist, each of which has different causes, outcomes if not treated, and responses to treatments. Rituximab is an antibody that destroys specific immune cells that are thought to underlie the development of IMN. Remuzzi and colleagues reported the results from a

Splenic marginal zone lymphoma is a relatively new subcategory of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that was previously included in the category of splenic B-cell lymphoma. It is CD-20 postive and would be expected torespond to Rituxan, It is a low grade lymphoma and included in the “low grade” category and timing of intervention is similar to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A recent study reported effectiveness in a low number of patients

Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are inflammatory muscle disorders of unknown etiology currently classified under the rubric of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). There are case reports and small proseepctive phase II studies and series. In an open-label uncontrolled pilot study (n = 7), Levine (2005) reported their findings of 7 adult patients with dermatomyositis (DM), 6 of whom had longstanding illness that was responding inadequately to

Anti-CD20 (Rituximab) is a humanised monoclonocal antibody directed against the specific CD20 antigens found on B lymphocytes plasma membrane. It has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of lymphoma and post-transplant lymphoproliferative diseases. Its uses in several autoimmune diseases have recently been explored. The rationale for using Rituxan for treating EBV infections in children is that it can destroy B cells and thus "dampen" T-cell

Cold-agglutinin-induced autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA)  is difficult to treat.  It is also called cold agglutinin disease. Cold agglutinin disease is a group of disorders that are characterized by antierythrocyte autoantibodies that bind red blood cells at cold temperatures (< 37° C), causing hemagglutination. The antibodies are usually of the IgM type but may also be of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) or immunoglobulin A (IgA) type. Symptoms

Rituxan is offered for lupus nephritis after failing other therapies. Rituxan has been acccepted for treatment of lupus nephritis based on anecdotal data and small prospective studies but a recent study showed that it is ineffective. The trial was conducted by two biotechnology companies, Genentech and Biogen. They annonced the following results in April of 2008. The trial involved 257 patients, who received either Rituxan or a placebo. Rituxan did

Pemphigus vulgaris is a potentially fatal autoimmune mucocutaneous blistering disease. Conventional therapy consists of high-dose corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, and intravenous immune globulin. More recently newer agenst, such as Cellcept and Dapsone. Among the new approaches is Rituxan. A number of case reprots suggest that Rituxan is an effective reatment but it had not been prospectively studies.For example, a recent report of 11 pateitns

Castleman's disease, also called angiofollicular lymph node has two forms, localized and a multicentric. The clinical and biological signs are varied and heterogeneous, and the diagnostic is made on the histologic examination. There are no expert assessment, guidelines or consensus statements, policy statements or formal technology assessments for this disease. Not much has been published about RItuxan in Castleman's Disease, aside from case reports.