Prolonged remission in a patient with relapsed follicular lymphoma after a single course of rituximab.

BACKGROUND: Rituximab monotherapy can achieve remissions of up to 80% in follicular lymphoma. As the antibody has only been on the market since 1997, long-term observations are still rare. CASE REPORT: We report about a patient with follicular lymphoma who received a single treatment of 4 x 375 mg/m(2) of the monoclonal antibody rituximab without chemotherapy and has been in complete remission (CR) for 8 years. DISCUSSION: This remarkable response duration highlights the efficacy of rituximab monotherapy. A number of recently published studies have indicated that CR of more than 4 years after rituximab monotherapy may be a regularly occurring event. CONCLUSIONS: These patients are likely to represent a yet poorly characterized patient group that profits considerably from rituximab monotherapy.