90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan in the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy of the immune system, with more than 53,900 new cases diagnosed in 2002. Conventional cancer therapies cure many, but not the majority of, cases of the aggressive forms of NHL, and the more indolent and follicular forms of the disease that affect nearly half of all patients with NHL are considered incurable. In the absence of cure or survival benefits, treatments such as radioimmunotherapy that induce remission and prolong time off therapy are considered valuable. (90)Y-Ibritumomab tiuxetan recently became the first radioimmunotherapy agent to be approved for commercial use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. After reading this article, the nuclear medicine technologist should be able to understand the incidence and prevalence of NHL, describe the ibritumomab tiuxetan therapy protocol, explain specific infusion techniques for this protocol, list acquisition parameters after injection of (111)In-ibritumomab tiuxetan, and describe specific safety techniques to keep risk as low as reasonably achievable while performing the therapy protocol.