Rituxan 3 articles

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new black box warnings for potentially fatal reactivation of hepatitis B viruses (HBV) were added to two drugs – one an immune suppressant and the other an anti-cancer medication. The warnings will be added to the labels of Arzerra (ofatumumab) and Rituxan (rituximab). Arzerra is used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in patients who have further disease after treatment with the anti-cancer drugs fludarabine and alemtuzumab. Rituxan is used to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and CLL. It is also used to treat other medical conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyanglitis, and microscopic ... Read More

A drug developed 50 years ago has reemerged as a new weapon in the fight against certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas, more than doubling progression-free survival rates and reducing side effects compared to a multi-drug cocktail that for years has been used to treat indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The drug, bendamustine (Treanda), showed promising results when combined with another therapy, rituximab (Rituxan). Traditionally, the disease has been treated with a combination of five different drugs – rituximab, cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), doxorubicin (Adriamycin), vincristine, and prednisone – called R-CHOP. Findings on bendamustine were presented this week at the annual meeting of the American ... Read More

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received a third case of a serious and often fatal neurological disorder known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with the drug Rituxan (rituximab). The report has led the agency to inform rheumatological health care professionals that patients with RA who have received Rituxan are at an increased risk of PML. Physicians should consider the risks in any patient treated with Rituxan who presents new onset neurological manifestations. The FDA advises consultation with a neurologist, brain MRI, and lumbar puncture should be considered as clinically indicated. ... Read More