Rituximab desensitization in three patients with severe rituximab allergy

Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that targets CD20 positive B cells and has a positive effect on both overall and progression-free survival in B cell lymphoid malignancies. Combination rituximab with chemotherapy treatment provide survival improvement. Although rituximab is an important treatment option in hematological malignancies, the risk of allergic reactions is high. These reactions are usually IgE-mediated and can be varied in regards of severity from urticaria to anaphylaxis. It is an option to interrupt the treatment and ommit rituximab therapy who had allergic reactions.

Source: Current Problems in Cancer - July 28, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Erman Öztürk, Leyla Pur Özyiğit, Ayşe Bilge Öztürk, Meltem Olga Akay, Mustafa Çetiner, Burhan Ferhanoğlu Source Type: research