Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma accounts for 4% of all cancer cases in the United States, but that number has grown since the 1970s. Lymphoma is pretty much a symptomless cancer, besides the possible night sweats and node enlargement. Beginning in 1994 Rituximab a new monoclonal anti-body was approved for the treatment of Lymphoma patients. In early 1994 IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation developed the anti-body IDEC-C2B8 which would later be renamed Rituximab. Rituximab was developed to stop the growth of CD20 antigen on normal B cells, following that the body’s natural immune system attacks the marked B-Cells in the initial development process Rituximab faced no political or social walls in the United States unlike many other antibody s. Prior to the development of Rituximab Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma were treated with CHOP therapy, which includes the chemotherapy antibody s Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and prednisone, all of the names of therapy antibody s changed the given names are the common names. After the development of Rituximab it became R-CHOP therapy, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Nodular Lymphocyte…show more content… Some side effects are weakness, headache, cough, nausea, and a runny nose or other cold symptoms. Another side effect is the possibility of developing a rash. One serious side effect of Rituximab is hypersensitivity reaction which can be as serious as the patient going into anaphylactic shock. When it happens administration of the antibody is stopped the patient is given more Benadryl and steroids and it is restarted at a slower rate. In my case after the first round when I realized that I wouldn’t have a bad reaction to the antibody, the day which I got Rituximab was the best day it was my last day. I was not nauseous, and was asleep because of the
