Rituximab maintenance therapy in follicular lymphoma.

Follicular lymphomas are considered incurable, but most patients survive for many years. The introduction of rituximab into the treatment of malignant lymphomas of the B-cell lineage has had a major impact on the management of these diseases. Numerous studies confirm the benefit of rituximab, in monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy, in regard to remission rate, remission duration, and overall survival. To further improve the treatment results, rituximab has been applied as maintenance therapy after induction with rituximab alone or with immunochemotherapy including rituximab. This article reviews the trials that have incorporated rituximab maintenance in the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma.