Why give Rituxan with chemo if resistant to Rituxan monotherapy?

[Guest guest]

Why give Rituxan with chemo if resistant to Rituxan monotherapy?

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This is a commonly asked question and I believe the answer is yes, that

adding Rituxan to the chemo is generally recommended even if you haven't

responded well to prior Rituxan monotherapy.

While Rituxan alone might not be enough to tilt the balance of survival

forces (die vs. don't die signals) within a cell to favor apoptosis*, it

could well be sufficient to sensitize the lymphoma cells to the

chemotherapy.

* Apoptosis is a kind of suicide program that is carried out by the cell

when defects are detected. (Peeling skin cells in reaction to sun burn is a

common example).

.. Lymphoma cells are thought to have defects in the apoptosis program, which

protects the body by getting rid of defective cells. Both Rituxan and chemo

are thought to be active against lymphoma cells by activating the

self-destruct program -- chemo by damaging the dividing cells further;

Rituxan by altering the pro-survival signals within the cells in a way that

favors self-destruction.

.. In other words Rituxan and chemo are thought to be synergistic when

combined.

Rituxan has other immune-mediated mechanisms of action, which may be strong

or weak depending on normal variations in characteristics of the immune

system.

Most times a lack of responsiveness to Rituxan is not because the CD20

target no longer exists . loss of cd20 expression on lymphoma cells happens

rarely. For example, responses to radioimmunotherapy (which depends on the

cd20 target) are often very good in those who have Rituxan-resistant

lymphoma.

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All the best, ~ Karl

All the best,

~ Karl

Patients Against Lymphoma

Patients Helping Patients

Non-profit | Independent | Evidence-based

www.lymphomation.org | Current News: http://bit.ly/f2A0T

How to Help: www.lymphomation.org/how-to-help.htm

[Guest guest]

NEW TOPIC on lymphomation:

Why give Rituxan with chemo if resistant to Rituxan monotherapy?

http://bit.ly/pFV7Hf

Much added to the initial email post based on advisor comments and secondary

notions. An example of how questions and the perspectives of advisors

drive the content of our site!

All the best,

~ Karl

Patients Against Lymphoma

How to Help: www.lymphomation.org/how-to-help.htm