Open AccessBendamustine in Indolent Non‐Hodgkin's Lymphoma: A Practice Guide for Patient Management
Author(s) -
Brugger Wolfram,
Ghielmini Michele
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the oncologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.176
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1549-490X
pISSN - 1083-7159
DOI - 10.1634/theoncologist.2013-0079
Subject(s) - bendamustine , medicine , rituximab , prednisone , vincristine , mantle cell lymphoma , oncology , non hodgkin's lymphoma , californium , lymphoma , cyclophosphamide , chemotherapy , physics , quantum mechanics , neutron
For patients with advanced indolent non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or elderly patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), the recently reported results of the German StiL NHL‐1 2003 and the international BRIGHT phase III trials showed that, as first‐line treatment, the combination of bendamustine and rituximab is at least as effective as rituximab/cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone or rituximab/cyclophosphamide/vincristine/prednisone, possibly with a better therapeutic index. Bendamustine is therefore increasingly used in clinical practice. Because bendamustine has been used for many years in Germany and in Switzerland, our institutions have had extensive experience with bendamustine, both as a single agent and in combination with rituximab. In this comprehensive review, we summarize the most important clinical data from phase II/III trials with bendamustine in patients with indolent NHL and MCL, both in the relapsed/refractory setting and in the first‐line setting. In addition, this review provides practical advice on how to optimally manage bendamustine therapy in patients with NHL.