Dr. Grossbard on the Role of Maintenance Rituximab in Follicular Lymphoma

Michael L. Grossbard, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine, chief of the Hematology and Medical Oncology Inpatient Service at Tisch Hospital, and section chief of Hematology at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the role of maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) in follicular lymphoma.

It is easy to get patients with follicular lymphoma into remission with all the new therapies that are available, says Grossbard. However, frontline therapy is not curative. Although maintenance rituximab can be used to prolong remissions, it may not impact long-term survival. Nonetheless, it is important for patients to be able to live free of disease and maintain their quality of life while on treatment, explains Grossbard.

The phase 3 PRIMA trial evaluated maintenance rituximab following induction chemotherapy with or without rituximab. Patients were treated until remission and then were randomized to receive no additional therapy or maintenance rituximab. Patients who had maintenance rituximab had longer remissions than those who did not receive maintenance therapy, concludes Grossbard.