Rituximab Therapy in Hematologic Malignancy Patients With Circulating Blood Tumor Cells: Association With Increased Infusion-Related Side Effects and Rapid Blood Tumor Clearance

Rituximab administration in patients who have a high number of tumor cells in the blood may have an increased likelihood of severe initial infusion-related reactions. These data also suggest that rituximab may have activity in a variety of other lymphoid neoplasms, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia.