ANNOUNCER: Lengthening the time to progression, however, does not automatically mean a patient will live longer. Doctors say there are hints from clinical trial data that rituximab could, in some cases, increase survival. But it's really too soon to tell.
JOHN LEONARD, MD: I think the main question is the long term outcomes, and for many people the ultimate goal is to be alive and do well in the long term, decades down the line. And it's still too early in the game, so to speak, to know what does rituximab do in the long term, ten, twenty years down the line. We're encouraged about these short term benefits and hope that they translate into longer term benefits, but we need to follow this issue further in studies that are going on now.
ANNOUNCER: Monoclonal antibodies have few side effects, except flu-like symptoms while it is being administered. As a result, some doctors try using it alone, as monotherapy, especially in cases where "watchful waiting" might be the alternative.
SANDRA J. HORNING, MD: I think the prospects of having a treatment that's effective and relatively nontoxic-that is, relative to chemotherapy-can change the way that patients and their physicians look at the policy of watchful waiting. And under these circumstances, it may be appropriate in some cases to use rituximab as a single agent as initial therapy. Again, this is something that is being studied in the context of clinical trials, both in the United States and in Europe.
