title: The preclinical discovery of rituximab for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) were developed in the 1980s in order to treat malignancies. An important target for MoAbs was the CD20 B-cell lineage antigen. Rituximab (RTX) is a chimeric mouse anti-human MoAb that targets the CD20 antigen on the surface of malignant and normal B lymphocytes, and has rapidly become the widest used immunotherapeutic drug. RTX has had a significant impact on how B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia is now treated.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this review, the authors demonstrate the mechanisms of action of RTX, and the preclinical data that have led to clinical trials and its final approval for the treatment of B-cell NHLs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The discovery of RTX opened a new era for treatment of B-cell malignancies and became the starting point for the development of new, more active classes of anti-CD20 agents. Furthermore, it has contributed to the construction of a number of MoAbs specific for other antigens that target different types of neoplastic cells.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Lodz, Department of Experimental Hematology , Ciolkowskiego 2, Lodz, 93-510 Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smolewski
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Robak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology; D018951:Antigens, CD20 / Q000276:immunology; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017277:Drug Approval; D015195:Drug Design; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D006801:Humans; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D000069283:Rituximab / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D018951:Antigens, CD20; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000069283:Rituximab
keywords: B-cell malignancies; antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity; apoptosis; complement-dependent cytotoxicity; direct cell death; non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; rituximab