How Immunotherapy Works Video Transcript

Webcast Transcript

Those occur maybe 1 in 10,000.

ANNOUNCER: Fortunately, many of the minor side effects can be reduced by giving patients Tylenol or Benadryl beforehand. But while reducing side effects is always a great concern, equally important is how well the drug actually works. Initial studies focused on patients with advanced lymphoma.

RALPH BOCCIA, MD: So about half the patients or a little bit less than half will have responses. Amongst those, somewhere between 5 and 10% will have complete responses, or a complete disappearance of the cancer, for a period of time.

This is not curative therapy, but the average response lasts about nine to twelve months and then the disease tends to recur at that point. About 15% of the patients have very prolonged remissions, and some have had remissions beyond five years, after having failed several sessions with chemotherapy.

ANNOUNCER: Rituximab is now being used earlier in the course of treatment. And a recent study showed that patients, who then relapse, can gain from taking the regimen a second time.

RALPH BOCCIA, MD: But what was very striking in that study -- and what lead to the most recent broadening of the FDA indication for this drug, to allow it to be used a second time -- is that the response durations were actually significantly longer. Instead of being right around twelve months or so, they were out to about sixteen or seventeen months.

ANNOUNCER: Unfortunately, Rituximab won't work with everyone, and it's up to your doctor to determine whether it's right for you.

RALPH BOCCIA, MD: Patients that would be eligible for treatment are patients with malignant lymphoma -- or chronic lymphocytic leukemia -- who are CD20-positive. When a lymphoma is diagnosed, the pathologist goes through a variety of steps to check certain characteristics of the cell, including measuring whether they have this target, the CD20 on the cell surface or not.

I believe that the point at which rituxan fits into any patient's treatment profile is really very much dependent on how their hematologist-oncologist feels they would be best treated. I personally believe that this drug offers a benefit to patients earlier that may be better than offering it to them later in their disease process.

ANNOUNCER: And in some cases, oncologists have started using Rituximab in combination with a standard chemotherapy called "CHOP." A recent study of NHL patients yielded promising results.

RALPH BOCCIA, MD: Although the data is very early, and the patients have not been followed more than a couple of years, this is the first combination since we began putting combinations together where, at least at one year, the overall survival is higher on the combination CHOP-plus-rituxan compared to the old CHOP alone program.

There's another monoclonal antibody that was recently released by the Food & Drug Administration for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia called "Campath" or Campath 1-H. That's very specifically released for patients with refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or those that have progressed on a drug called "fludarabine," which is a chemotherapy drug.

ANNOUNCER: And the FDA may soon approve Bexxar and Zevalin, which are both monoclonal antibodies against CD20, with radioactive material attached.

RALPH BOCCIA, MD: This is a disease that is very sensitive to radiation. So, bringing the radiation directly to the lymphoma cell makes a lot of sense.

ANNOUNCER: Cancer vaccines are also in the works, though they're a longer way off. But whether it's Rituximab today or new versions tomorrow, it's clear that immunotherapy is the wave of the future.

Related Videos

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: What Patients Should Know
Expanding the Use of Rituxan in NHL Treatment
Combining Rituxan and Chemotherapy: What are the Benefits?
Will Targeted Therapies Work for CLL?
What are the Different Types of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma?
NHL: A Survivor's Journey