Rituximab maintenance therapy in indolent NHL: a clinical review

Rituximab maintenance therapy following successful induction has emerged as a highly effective treatment for follicular lymphoma. Several randomized trials have been conducted analyzing the impact of rituximab maintenance compared to observation alone on treatment outcome. These studies have been conducted in patients receiving single-agent rituximab, standard chemotherapy or rituximab plus chemotherapy as initial cytoreduction, in both previously treated and untreated patients. In all the trials, rituximab maintenance resulted in a clinically and statistically significant benefit in clinical endpoints such as progression-free survival. Moreover, first data indicate that rituximab maintenance can prolong overall survival in patients with follicular lymphoma. These data have established rituximab maintanance as an important part of multimodal therapeutic strategies. Ongoing studies will help to determine the best schedule for the maintenance therapy in the treatment of follicular lymphoma.