Treatment of splenic marginal zone lymphoma with rituximab monotherapy: progress report and comparison with splenectomy.

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.