efficacy and tolerability of rituximab plus CHOP immuno-chemotherapy in comparison with CHOP chemotherapy alone in management of aggressive diffuse CD20 positive large-B-cell lymphoma

ABSTRACT

Background: Diffuse large B-cell Lymphoma [DLBCL] is the most common form of aggressive non-Hodgkinis lymphoma [NHL] accounting for 30% of all NHL cases. CHOP chemotherapy containing cyclphosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone, is the conventional standard treatment for those patients but still curative in less than 50% of patients. Rituximab is a chimeric targeting antibody that binds specifically to CD20 antigen, expressed on 85% of cells of the B-cell lineage; leading to specific elimination of B-cells through multiple mechanisms