Background: Treatment of splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) patients is not standardized. Recent data suggest that rituximab is highly effective and could be considered as initial therapy.
Aim: To assess the efficacy of rituximab monotherapy in a large series of patients with SMZL and compare these results with splenectomy results.
Oncologist
June 2012
Unlabelled: More aggressive treatment approaches (methotrexate, cytarabine, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and bleomycin [the MACOP-B regimen] or consolidation with high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation) have been considered to be superior to cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) in patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL). Rituximab-CHOP (R-CHOP) is the standard of care for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, whereas efficacy in PMLBCL has not been adequately confirmed.
Patient And Methods: Seventy-six consecutive PMLBCL patients who received R-CHOP with or without radiotherapy (RT) were compared with 45 consecutive historical controls treated with CHOP with or without RT.