Interesting new anti-cancer drug developed by Genentech, Inc. and IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Rituxan is one of the first general anti-cancer drugs to come on the market to work on the principle of monoclonal antibodies to fight cancer; that is, it stimulates the body's immune system to attack cancerous tumors.

Rituxan was developed to fight B-Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but it was never given to me. This is because

  1. It's used more often against low-grade or indolent forms of the disease, and I had a more aggressive type.
  2. It's been known to shrink existing tumors, but has not yet (11/2001) been proven as effective in eliminating them as existing chemotherapy regimens. My oncologist mentioned putting me on the drug if I get another lymphoma tumor in the future, but not for this round.
  3. Patients have been known to die within 24 hours as an allergic reaction to the first infusion of rituxan.
Thanks to www.rituxan.com and my oncologists