An update at 7 years was conceived for our multicenter phase II study in which 55 elderly high-risk untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients were treated with (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan after a short course of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone (R-CHOP) as long-term follow-up analyses of this combined therapeutic modality are lacking. The overall resp...

Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) after an induction phase with conventional chemoimmunotherapy became an attractive strategy of consolidation for patients with advanced follicular lymphoma: in particular, in many studies RIT was represented by yttrium-90-ibritumomab tiuxetan ((90) Y-IT). Independently by the different front-line treatment, updates on the long-term follow-up of these studies are needed ...

UNLABELLED Abstract Objective: To assess the impact of nonuniform dose distribution within lesions and tumor-involved organs of patients receiving Zevalin(®), and to discuss possible implications of equivalent uniform biological effective doses (EU-BED) on treatment efficacy and toxicity. MATLAB™ -based software for voxel-based dosimetry was adopted for this purpose. METHODS Eleven lesions fr...

the brief reports on natalizumab were referred to biogen idec, the manufacturer, which offers the following response: After learning of one confirmed and one suspected case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in patients treated with natalizumab, Biogen Idec and Elan quickly notified the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory authorities. We worked closely with ...

PML caused by John Cunningham (JC) virus is a rare but an increasingly recognized entity. With the advent of newer immunomodulatory therapies with monoclonal antibodies, there is an increasing incidence of PML. Initially concern was restricted to patients treated for multiple sclerosis with natalizumab but more case reports are being reported during treatment for other conditions like Crohn's d...

The radiosensitivity of malignant lymphomas as well as the local targeted delivery of high doses of radiation both make radioimmunotherapy (RIT) an attractive option to fully explore. Radioisotopes are linked to a monoclonal antibody and after intravenous infusion the complex binds to all cells expressing the respective antigen. In this way not only cells binding the radioimmunoconjugate are ki...

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is a standard therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are chemosensitive. The combination of carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan (BEAM) is commonly used as a conditioning regimen. The addition of yttrium-90 ((90) Y)-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin(®)) to BEAM ...

Relapse continues to be the primary cause of treatment failure in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) undergoing high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. The anti-CD20 radioimmunoconjugates, Y-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin; Biogen Idec, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA) and I-131 tositumomab (Bexxar; Corixa, Seattle, WA; and Glaxo Smith Kline; Philadelphia, PA, USA) have b...