Rituximab can be useful as treatment for minimal residual disease in bcr-abl-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
We report the results of administering CD20 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) in a 32-year-old man with bcr-abl-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Morphological complete remission was achieved after two lines of chemotherapy with persistence of blast cells (2%) in flow cytometric analysis of marrow cells. Since no HLA-matched donor for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was found, anti-CD20 MoAb therapy was administered for in vivo marrow purging, prior to autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvest and transplantation. After MoAb therapy <0.1% of blast cells were observed and the molecular abnormality (bcr-abl gene rearrangement) disappeared.
Instituto Hematológico Torre Vilanla, Centro Medico Teknon, Barcelona, Spain.
B M
BM
Jándula
J
J
Nomdedeu
P
P
Marín
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P
Vivancos
D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual / Q000188:drug therapy; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D000069283:Rituximab; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000069283:Rituximab; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl