High dose RItuxan for ITP – pro
Rituxan has an orphan drug designation for ITP but at the dose of 375mg/m2, not 500 mg/m2. Rituximab in the management of refractory or relapsed ITP has been primarily evaluated in noncontrolled settings enrolling less than 150 patients, demonstrating benefit in the majority of patients, either as complete or partial response. In consensus guidelines,rituximab is recommended as second-line therapy. However, high dose rituximab is not proven in this setting. In fact, low dose of 100mg/m2 also appears to be effective.
A. Generali et al, Off-Label Drug Uses Rituximab: Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia Hosp Pharm2011;46(4):251–253201
Rituxan Prescribing INfomration 2015.