What is an example of a targeted drug for lymphoma treatment?
Rituxan (rituximab) is the first targeted drug on the market that is used widely in B-cell lymphomas, and it’s been an extraordinarily good drug. It’s already been shown that if you add Rituxan to the standard combination chemotherapy, you can cure more patients. That’s the first time that’s happened in a long time. In the low-grade lymphomas, these targeted drugs can provide another treatment option with minimal toxicity to patients and often can be used for several years without giving patients chemotherapy at all. How do the side effects of these new targeted therapies compare with traditional chemotherapy? We’ve had considerable experience with Rituxan during the last several years. This drug has none of the chemotherapy toxicity. No hair loss. No nausea and vomiting. No lowering of the blood counts. Also, Rituxan is given once a week for a short period of time and that’s it, where chemotherapy treatments take about six months.
