Is Rituximab Dosing Suboptimal for Older Men with DLBCL?

Among older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, men experienced faster rituximab clearance and poorer outcomes than women.

The standard rituximab dose of 375 mg/m² has been broadly applied for treatment of patients with B-cell lymphoproliferative and autoimmune disorders, despite a lack of pharmacokinetic data regarding specific disease entities and individual patients. To address this issue, investigators analyzed the impact of gender and age (≤60 vs. >60) on outcomes in three phase III, prospective, multicenter trials of combination chemotherapy with or without rituximab for patients with newly diagnosed, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

In the MInT and MegaCHOEP studies (of 823 and 262 young patients, respectively), males and females benefited equally from rituximab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone. However, in the RICOVER-60 trial of 1222 older pati…

Reviewing Author

Michael E. Williams, MD, ScM

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAbbVie; AstraZeneca; Beigene; Janssen; Pharmacyclics

Grant/Research SupportJanssen

Editorial BoardsAmerican Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Hematology Longitudinal Knowledge Approval Committee

Michael E. Williams, MD, ScM

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAbbVie; AstraZeneca; Beigene; Janssen; Pharmacyclics

Grant/Research SupportJanssen

Editorial BoardsAmerican Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Hematology Longitudinal Knowledge Approval Committee

Is Rituximab Dosing Suboptimal for Older Men with DLBCL?

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Reviewing Author