Rituximab clearance in pediatric patients with mature aggressive B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Background: In recent decades, treatment of pediatric patients with mature aggressive B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) has been systematically improved to overall survival rates of 80–90%. Current chemotherapeutic regimen in combination with B-cell targeting agents, like the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab improve the outcome for high-risk patients. To optimize rituximab efficacy in children with B-NHL by dose-adjustment we analyze potential parameters influencing the individual clearance of rituximab. Design: 144 children, enrolled in the trial B-NHL 2013, were monitored for rituximab levels at day 5 after the first rituximab infusion. Rituximab concentrations were determined with an ELISA assay established according to the method of Hampson et al., 2010. The concentrations were correlated to patient-specific parametersregistered to the NHL-BFM data center. Results and Conclusion: Rituximab levels were characterized by inter-individual variability. Besides the already reported association of rituximab clearance with tumor burden, we observed additional individual parameters, which potentially affect the clearance and might be useful for concepts of dose adjustment.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. Mai 2023