Important Safety Information
About Indolent Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is divided into 2 main categories: aggressive (or highly aggressive) NHL and indolent NHL. This corresponds to how fast the tumors are growing. Indolent NHL, also called low-grade NHL, grows slowly. The most common type of indolent NHL is follicular NHL. It is called follicular because tumor cells grow in circular groups, or follicles. More than 2 out of 10 people with NHL have follicular NHL. There are other types of indolent NHL. Your doctor can discuss all these types with you.
Indolent NHL is a lifelong disease. But there are treatment options. For many patients, these treatments help manage their NHL. And many patients live with indolent NHL for many years.
This information does not take the place of talking with your doctor. Discuss with your doctor any questions you have about your medical condition or your treatment.
Indications and Important Safety Information
RITUXAN® (Rituximab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with:
- Relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell NHL as a single agent
- Previously untreated follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell NHL in combination with CVP chemotherapy
- Non-progressing (including stable disease), low-grade, CD20-positive, B-cell NHL, as a single agent, after first-line CVP chemotherapy
- Previously untreated diffuse large B-cell, CD20-positive NHL in combination with CHOP or other anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimens
People with serious infections should not receive RITUXAN.
Important Safety Information:
- RITUXAN can cause serious side effects that can lead to death, including: infusion reactions, tumor lysis syndrome (TLS; kidney failure due to fast breakdown of cancer cells), severe skin and mouth reactions, and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML; a rare, serious brain infection).
- RITUXAN has also been associated with serious and life-threatening side effects, including: the return of active hepatitis B virus infection with sudden and serious liver problems including liver failure, and death, other serious infections that can lead to death, heart problems, kidney problems, and stomach and serious bowel problems including blockage and tears in the bowel that can sometimes lead to death.
- The most common side effects of RITUXAN seen in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma were infusion reactions, fever, chills, low white blood cells, infections, body aches, and tiredness. Before starting treatment with RITUXAN it is important to talk to your doctor about your medical history.
- Tell your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all of the possible side effects with RITUXAN. For more information, ask your doctor
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide.
