Statins have no effect on outcomes in patients with B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab, but improve event-free survival in patients with follicular lymphoma regardless of rituximab treatment, according to a study published online Dec. 14 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Noting that statins can block the binding of rituximab to its target, Grzegorz S. Nowakowski, M.D., and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., examined the impact of statin use on rituximab efficacy in 228 patients with newly diagnosed, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (21 percent taking statins) and in 293 patients with follicular lymphoma (19 percent taking statins). All diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients and 39 percent of follicular lymphoma patients were initially treated with rituximab.

ModernMedicine, 12/16/09

Tags: B-cell lymphoma, Cancer, Rituximab