Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies as novel treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) offer new options for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, needed because existing therapies have many limitat ions. The unconjugated, chimeric anti-CD20 antibody, Rituximab (MabThera(R) , Rituxan(R)), has recently been approved in the USA for patients with rela psed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and in Europe for therapy of relapsed stage III/IV follicular lymphoma. In the pivotal study of Rituximab, an overall response rate of 50% was achiev ed with median time to progression in responders of 13.2 months. Studies ar e ongoing with the Y-90-labelled murine anti-CD20 antibody, 1DEC-Y2B8. The response rate in a Phase I/II study in low-grade and intermediate-grade pat ients was 67%.