title: Refractoriness to rituximab monotherapy in a child with relapsed/refractory Burkitt non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
abstract: The authors describe a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with mediastinal Burkitt lymphoma with tumor invasion into bone marrow and both kidneys. After receiving chemotherapy according to NHL BFM-95 protocol for the high-risk disseminated lymphoma, the patient reached complete remission. He relapsed in the mediastinum at 5 months from the diagnosis. He underwent thoracotomy and tumor mass was removed by inferior lobectomy of right lung. Residual tumor progressed rapidly. Autologous stem cell transplantation could not be performed because of unresponsiveness to cytoreductive chemotherapy. Twenty-three days after the last chemotherapy course, he received rituximab at a dose of 375 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion weekly, for a total of 8 dose. However, multiple intra-abdominal metastatic lesions were detected at the end of the therapy. Palliative radiotherapy was applied to these sites. He died because of disease progression, 11 months after the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. fatvis03@yahoo.com
authors.forename: F Visal
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Okur
authors.forename: Aynur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oguz
authors.forename: Ceyda
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karadeniz
authors.forename: Caglar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Citak
authors.forename: Aylar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poyraz
authors.forename: Oznur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boyunaga
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019046:Bone Marrow Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010166:Palliative Care; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D000069283:Rituximab
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000069283:Rituximab