Targeting intratumoral B cells with rituximab in addition to CHOP in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. A clinicobiological study of the GELA

Abstract

We report here the results of the first clinical trial targeting both the neoplastic T cells and the microenvironment-associated CD20(+) B lymphocytes in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, showing no clear benefit of adding rituximab to conventional chemotherapy. A strong relationship, not previously described, between circulating Epstein-Barr virus and circulating tumor cells is highlighted.