Bexxar, Iodine I 131 Tositumomab, Effective in Long-Term Follow-Up of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

In a study of 76 patients with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the radioimmunotherapy drug Bexxar, also known as tositumomab and iodine I 131 tositumomab, was found to be highly effective when used as a first-line treatment. After a median follow-up of eight years, 86% of the patients were still alive, and 50% had not experienced a relapse. The treatment resulted in 95% of patients seeing tumor shrinkage, with 75% achieving complete remission. Nearly two-thirds of the patients remained in complete remission eight years post-treatment. Bexxar, which combines an antibody with radioactive iodine, is administered in a single treatment over one week, offering a convenient alternative to traditional chemotherapy regimens that can take months and cause side effects like nausea and hair loss. The study was presented by Mark Kaminski, M.D., from the University of Michigan Medical School, and was funded by the National Institutes of Health and GlaxoSmithKline.