Dr. Martin on the Role of Maintenance Therapy With Rituximab in MCL

Peter Martin, MD, chief of the Lymphoma Program at the Meyer Cancer Center and an associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the role of maintenance therapy with rituximab (Rituxan) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Improved overall survival has been demonstrated with rituximab maintenance following R-CHOP–based therapy, as well as following autologous stem cell transplant, says Martin. However, the role of rituximab maintenance after bendamustine-based therapy had not been fully realized, Martin adds.

During the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, findings from a retrospective, real-world analysis demonstrated that bendamustine/rituximab was the most used first-line therapy for patients with MCL in community-based practices in the United States. Additionally, the data suggested that rituximab maintenance following treatment yielded superior outcomes in patients, Martin says. As such, all patients should receive rituximab maintenance after bendamustine-based induction therapy unless they have contraindications, concludes Martin.