Has anyone not gone into remission on Rituxan and got another treatment of Rituxan and went into remission?
Has anyone not gone into remission on Rituxan and got another treatment of Rituxan and went into remission?
My daughter had rtx infusions in August and is not yet in remission. Her doc wants to wait until February and begin another series if she still is not in remission. In the interim, her prednisone had been reduced by 30mg over the same four month period. It will be reduced 1 mg a month for the next several months (assuming she responds positively). It's probably too optimistic to think remission will be achieved in the next two months, but we can hope. Otherwise, she'll go ahead with another series. My understanding is that it is typical to need more than one series.
Hang in there...
I've not gone into remission after several Rituxan treatments and Methotrexate maintenance. I have slowly improved and have now reduced my prednisone to 10mg - the lowest I've been in a very long time.
Hi there,
I'm in the same boat. I had 4 infusions from May-June. It's been 7 months and I still am not in remission. In spite of that, I saw nearly immediate results from the RTX infusions (could also have been from high-dose prednisone) and I'm doing much better though and I think I'm nearly at remission. Meds include: 5 mg pred daily (yay!!) and 20mg MTX weekly.
I'm seeing my nephrologist on Friday and my rheumatologist on Monday. I'm going to ask them if it's time for another RTX infusion. My Kidney Dr. wants to wait until my CD 19+ B cells return and then do another infusion. My Rhematologist wants to wait and see if the new B cells are normal--if I flare, then we know they're not, and can do another round of RTX.
I found this study that recommends fixed-interval RTX infusions for maintenance: Rituximab for remission maintenance in relapsing antineutrophil cyt... - PubMed - NCBI
I feel like this is all so new and still somewhat experimental...I just want to pick the right course to reach & stay in remission!
Hi Morning,
I wish my mom's drs would test CD19 b cells.
rtx works pretty well for weg's folks, but I know of no one that has MPA and did rtx.
rtx does even better for weg's relapses.
I don't know if my mom should do another round of rtx or stick with the mofetil to see if her renal function improves.
She didn't respond well to the rtx which was a surprise to both nephrologist and rheumy.
The rheumy said that doing the 2 doses of rtx is far better than the 4 doses.
B cells typically start coming back starting around the 6th month, so many will do the repeat at 6 months.
I sure hope u get to remission soon!
You mom is so lucky to have you, mrtmeo. I always see you asking great questions here in the forums and it seems like you're very involved in helping her recover. Does she have WG or does she have MPA or is it still TBD?
Interesting about 2 doses of RTX...I've read 4 doses as the usual treatment in many studies. Maybe the two dose approach is specific to MPA?
The B-cell test I'm getting (about once every 2 months) is called T + B-Lymphocyte Differential and the results that my doctors always look at are:
Abs. CD 19+ Lymphs
% CD 19+ Lymphs
Perhaps she could ask for the T + B-Lymphocyte Differential test by name? It might be good info for you to have.
I'm keeping your mother in my thoughts! Fingers crossed that you find a treatment that works very soon.
Hi morning,
I'm thinking along the same lines as mrtmeo that 2 infusions is the current protocol for Rituxan. I'm surprised you are getting four. I'm assuming you get one per week for four weeks?
In the begginning they were doing four but as far as I know the current protocol is one infusion followed by one more
two weeks later.
I've done it both ways and I have to say I like doing only two if for no other reason I only get that horse dose of solumedrol two times.
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