Efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy in patients with pemphigus vulgaris: first report from Turkey

Abstract

Rituximab is a beneficial and relatively safe adjuvant treatment for PV that facilitates prolonged clinical remission and has a significant steroid-sparing effect.

Retrospective analysis of a single‐center clinical experience toward development of curative treatment of 123 pemphigus patients with a long‐term follow‐up: efficacy and safety of the multidrug protocol combining intravenous immunoglobulin with the cytotoxic immunosuppressor and mitochondrion‐protecting drugs

“…The average TCR in our patients, 1.7 months, was comparable to that in other pemphigus patients treated by IVIg with or without RTX, which ranges from 1.7 to 2.1 months . In marked contrast, TCR in patients treated with RTX without IVIg and patients treated without either IVIg or RTX is much longer 2.3–5.8 months (reviewed in) and 4.3–5.9 months, respectively. This fact vividly demonstrated the benefit of including IVIg in the treatment protocol.…”

Rituximab therapy in pediatric pemphigus patients: A retrospective analysis of five Turkish patients and review of the literature

“…All five patients were treated with either of two regimens: (a) a fixed‐dose regimen, where RTX (1000 mg for Pt‐1, Pt‐2, and Pt‐3; 500 mg for Pt‐4) was administered twice, 15 days apart; and (b) a body surface regimen, where RTX (375 mg/m 2 body surface area) was administered four times, weekly. In every patient, the pre‐RTX evaluation and treatment followed a protocol described previously . In cases including administering additional infusions of RTX, a fixed dose of 500 mg was administered in two patients (patient 1 and patient 4), and the body surface regimen was administered in one (patient 5).…”

“…In every patient, the pre-RTX evaluation and treatment followed a protocol described previously. 11 In cases including administering additional infusions of RTX, a fixed dose of 500 mg was administered in two patients (patient 1 and patient 4), and the body surface regimen was administered in one (patient 5). The mean total duration of additional RTX infusions was 11.2 months (range: 6-20.6 months).…”

Serum sickness following rituximab therapy in a patient with pemphigus vulgaris: A case report

“…Pemphigus is one of the autoimmune diseases characterized by cutaneous blisters and erosions and mediated by autoantibodies. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is the major progressive subtype of pemphigus and may lead to death if it is not treated 16 …”