rituximab

Overview

Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody used as a B-cell–depleting therapeutic agent. It is widely recognized for targeting CD20 on B lymphocytes, leading to depletion of circulating and tissue B cells and thereby modulating antibody-mediated and B-cell–driven immune responses. Because of this mechanism, rituximab has become an important treatment in hematologic malignancies and a range of immune-mediated diseases.

In biomedical research, rituximab is frequently discussed in the context of B-cell biology, immunosuppression, and combination therapy. Its clinical effects are often evaluated alongside agents such as glucocorticoid, cyclophosphamide, bendamustine, vincristine, doxorubicin, cytarabine, etoposide, ifosfamide, and other immunomodulators. More recently, studies have also examined its relationship to vaccine responsiveness, infection risk, and B-cell monitoring, including CD19+ B-cells as a pharmacodynamic marker of B-cell depletion.

Focus of Latest Publications

Recent publications on rituximab have focused largely on its role as an anti-CD20 B-cell–depleting therapy in immune-mediated diseases and hematologic malignancies, with several studies examining real-world outcomes and treatment strategies. In neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, rituximab was evaluated in a multicenter cohort study comparing low-dose rituximab with inebilizumab, reflecting ongoing interest in its effectiveness and safety in routine clinical practice. In relapsing myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease, a real-world study assessed the long-term clinical outcomes of rituximab maintenance therapy, addressing the limited evidence base for sustained disease control in relapsing MOGAD.

Several recent reports also examined rituximab in severe autoimmune kidney disease and systemic inflammatory disorders. A case report in adult IgA vasculitis with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis described a single-dose rituximab induction regimen selected with peripheral blood CD19+ B-cell monitoring after glucocorticoids and intravenous cyclophosphamide had failed to control disease progression; the patient had a favorable renal response. Another real-world study reported that rituximab treatment was associated with significantly improved cutaneous sclerosis in an Indian cohort with systemic sclerosis, highlighting its dermatologic impact alongside its established use in systemic disease.

In hematologic malignancy, rituximab remains central to treatment optimization. A population-based cohort study in mantle cell lymphoma found that rituximab maintenance was associated with improved survival, particularly among patients who achieved partial remission after R-CHOP, and that maintenance implementation increased over time. In follicular lymphoma with progression of disease within 24 months, a systematic review and meta-analysis included anti-CD20 mAb-containing regimens and noted that combinations such as lenalidomide plus rituximab were among the approaches showing excellent efficacy, although lenalidomide plus obinutuzumab appeared superior to R2 in the analyzed data.

Other publications used rituximab as a comparator or analytical target rather than as a therapeutic focus. A head-to-head trial was proposed comparing rituximab with ocrelizumab in newly diagnosed relapsing multiple sclerosis, underscoring the lack of direct comparative data between anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. Separately, rituximab served as a showcase protein in a mass spectrometry workflow for rapid absolute protein quantitation in plasma, and as a model glycoprotein in a precision glycoform engineering study using Nicotiana benthamiana and Escherichia coli-produced glycoenzymes to generate homogeneous glycoforms for biopharmaceutical research.

Key Publications

NEWJul Rituximab versus Ocrelizumab in Newly Diagnosed Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. (The New England journal of medicine, 2026, PMID 42384870): "Rituximab versus Ocrelizumab in Newly Diagnosed Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis."
May Reduction-Free Thermolysin Digestion Enables Absolute Protein Quantitation in Plasma in 35 min from Sample to Result. (Journal of proteome research, 2026, PMID 42113895): "Using the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab as a showcase, a lower limit of quantitation of 5 amol on-column per ∼250 ng plasma protein injection could be achieved on an Orbitrap Exploris 480 in 60/100 samples-per-day mode."
Apr Single-dose rituximab as induction therapy in adult IgA vasculitis with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis: a case report with peripheral blood CD19⁺ B-cell monitoring. (CEN case reports, 2026, PMID 42050300): "Here, we report a case highlighting the effectiveness of RTX based on pathophysiological and pathological considerations of IgAV, as well as a treatment protocol that has not been previously described."
Apr Real-World Multicenter Cohort Study of Inebilizumab vs Low-Dose Rituximab in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders. (Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation, 2026, PMID 42044464): "Inebilizumab and rituximab (RTX) are anti-CD19 and anti-CD20 B cell-depleting antibodies, respectively."
May A real-world study on the long-term efficacy of rituximab in relapsing myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease. (Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 2026, PMID 41894908): "Data on the long-term efficacy and safety of rituximab (RTX) in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) are scarce."
May Precision glycoform engineering: Combining plant and in vitro systems for tailored biopharmaceutical production. (New biotechnology, 2026, PMID 41643936): "Using N. benthamiana as a transient expression host, we produced two pharmaceutical glycoproteins - the monoclonal antibody rituximab and the helminth vaccine candidate OoASP-1 - and modified them in vitro using Escherichia coli produced glycoenzymes."
May Impact of rituximab maintenance on survival in patients with mantle cell lymphoma: a population-based cohort study. (Blood advances, 2026, PMID 41637634): "Newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is commonly treated with rituximab (R), combined with anthracycline-based chemotherapy, with or without autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT)."
Apr Treatment and survival outcomes for patients with follicular lymphoma and POD24: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (Blood advances, 2026, PMID 41587420): "For anti-CD19 antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)/monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), the ORR and CR rate for loncastuximab plus rituximab and tafasitamab plus R2 (lenalidomide + rituximab) were 100% and 79.3%, and 87.5% and 43.2%, respectively."
Apr Treatment with rituximab is associated with significantly improved cutaneous sclerosis: real-world observations in an Indian cohort. (Clinical and experimental dermatology, 2026, PMID 40971877): "Rituximab is effective in both systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) and cutaneous sclerosis."