title: Rituximab therapy in pemphigus and other autoantibody-mediated diseases.
abstract: Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the B cell marker CD20, was initially approved in 1997 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since that time, rituximab has been FDA-approved for rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitides, such as granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis. Additionally, rituximab has been used off-label in the treatment of numerous other autoimmune diseases, with notable success in pemphigus, an autoantibody-mediated skin blistering disease. The efficacy of rituximab therapy in pemphigus has spurred interest in its potential to treat other autoantibody-mediated diseases. This review summarizes the efficacy of rituximab in pemphigus and examines its off-label use in other select autoantibody-mediated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, 1009 Biomedical Research Building, 421 Curie Boulevard, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Nina A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, 1009 Biomedical Research Building, 421 Curie Boulevard, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Aimee S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Payne
keywords: Pemphigus; autoantibody-mediated diseases; desmoglein; rituximab