Severe and fatal adverse events risk associated with rituximab addition to B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL) chemotherapy: a meta-analysis

Purpose: Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody targetting the CD20 antigen with the ability to increase overall remission (OR) in B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL). A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to determine the risk of the most clinically relevant severe and fatal adverse events (AEs) associated with the use of rituximab in the treatment of B-NHL.Patients and methods: We included phase III clinical trials that used chemotherapy in combination with rituximab or chemotherapy alone as for B-NHL. Statistical analyses were conducted to calculate summary risk ratio (RR) of the relevant severe and fatal AEs related with rituximab.Results: Eight randomised controlled clinical trials were included in this meta-analysis. Summary RR obtained showed no statistically significant rituximab-associated increased risk in 13 severe adverse events (SAEs) (infection, fever, anaemia, thrombocytopaenia, granulocytopenia, liver toxicity, cardiac toxicity, neurologic toxicity, lung toxicity, mucositis, n...