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Treatment Overview >  Zevalin

Last update: 02/02/2012

TOPICS
Intro | How is Zevalin Given?  Resources | News and Abstracts
TOPIC SEARCH PubMed:      
Outcomes | Safety
 

Zevalin (Ibritumomab tiuxetan) is a radio-labeled antibody.  The antibody seeks and binds to cells that have a receptor called CD20 -- present on both normal and malignant mature b-cells. 

Once bound to the target cells, Zevalin delivers radiation, which enhances the killing effect of the antibody.  

Because immature b-cells do not have the CD20 receptor, normal b-cells will recover in about nine months after treatment.

Rituxan (the naked antibody) is administered prior to Zevalin with the goal of clearing the majority of normal b-cells so that the therapeutic dose (the radio-labeled antibody) is more focused on tumor cells. 

In the News

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Zevalin - Medscape: Renewed Interest in Ibritumomab for NHL
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Zevalin, Fludarabine, and TBI-based "mini" allogeneic transplantation
 

Who is Zevalin for?

Patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade, follicular, or transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, including patients with Rituximab refractory follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Update: Zevalin is also indicated for the treatment of previously untreated follicular NHL in patients who achieve a partial or completed response to first-line chemotherapy.  

Repeated Use of ZEVALIN? The entire ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen is intended as a one-time treatment. The safety profile from multiple courses of the ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen or other forms of therapeutic radiation preceding, following, or in combination with the ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen has not been established.

The effects of Zevalin on survival is unknown.  

Mechanism of Action

After Y-90 ZEVALIN (the therapeutic component of the ZEVALIN regimen) enters the bloodstream, the monoclonal antibody ibritumomab recognizes and attaches to the CD20 antigen, allowing beta radiation emitted by the Yttrium-90 isotope to penetrate and damage the B-cell as well as neighboring cells.

Treatment with ZEVALIN: The entire ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen is delivered over 7 to 9 days. Patients then receive follow-up care by a physician for at least an additional 12 weeks. The ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen can be administered entirely on an outpatient basis and no isolation or lead shielding is necessary.

Where can I receive treatment?
You can use the Treatment Site Locator 


How Zevalin Is Given? 

Note: The Bioscan step is no longer required with Zevalin therapy

Zevalin is a two step protocol administered by IV over 7 to 9 days. 

Step 1, Day 1:  Rituxan infusion of 250 mg/m2 - starting at a slow rate.  

Step 2 Seven to nine days later:
 
Rituxan infusion is given a second time as described above. 

Within 4 hours the treatment dose of Zevalin (Zevalin linked with Yttrium-90) 
is infused over 10 minutes. 

The dose of Zevalin given depends on many factors, including your height and weight, your general health or other health problems, and the type of cancer or condition being treated. 

Ongoing Studies Clinical studies at major medical centers are currently investigating the use of the ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen in a variety of other lymphoma subtypes including aggressive disease. The ZEVALIN therapeutic regimen is also being studies in a number of different treatment strategies including combinations with front-line and salvage chemotherapy regimens and as part of autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Contraindicated (not for): Patients with known Type I hypersensitivity or anaphylactic reactions to murine (mouse)  proteins or to any component of this product, including Rituxan, yttrium chloride, and indium chloride. Zevalin should not be administered to patients with >25% lymphoma marrow involvement and/or impaired bone marrow reserve.

Median time to nadir (low blood counts): "Median time to ANC nadir was 62 days, to platelet nadir was 53 days, and to hemoglobin nadir was 68 days"
 
 Source:
Zevalin

gr_zevalin.gif (14229 bytes)
Click to enlarge

 


Resources:

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Zevalin Company Support, reimbursement and availability questions:

By Web: zevalin.com/

By Phone: 1-866-298-8433

   Option 1: Customer Service / Orders

   Option 2: Medical Information or Adverse Events Reporting

   Option 3: Product Complaints

   Option 4: Reimbursement

   Option 5: Rituximab Questions

By Email: ZEVALINsupport@sppirx.com

 
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Full prescribing information Zevalin.com
 

Does spleen involvement preclude use of radioimmunotherapy?

Splenectomy in Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books

Residual splenomegaly in a patient who has otherwise successfully responded in other sites following chemotherapy for lymphoma is another reason for performing a splenectomy. In these cases, the procedure may be performed for both diagnostic and therapeutic reasons; it can determine if the splenomegaly is due to persistent lymphoma, and should this be true, it can potentially eliminate the focus of residual disease. A less common indication for splenectomy that may be seen more frequently in the future is to allow patients to become eligible for enrollment onto novel treatment protocols. An example of this is in patients with lymphoma refractory to conventional chemotherapy who were treated with radioimmunotherapy using a radiolabelled anti-CD20 antibody.

In some of these patients, splenomegaly was found to complicate treatment, as the large organ served as an “antigen sink”, effectively decreasing the dose of radionuclide available to treat other sites of disease. Thus, pretreatment splenectomy may be indicated to eliminate this complicating factor.

 


Related Topics

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Antibodies for NHL


News and Abstracts

 

ASH 2010: Zevalin-based abstracts

90Y-Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin®) Consolidation of First Remission In Advanced-Stage Follicular Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: Updated Results After a Median Follow-up of 66.2 Months From the International, Randomized, Phase III First-Line Indolent Trial (FIT) In 414 Patients

http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper28386.html

SNIPS:

The FIT trial was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (0.4 mCi/kg; maximum dose 32 mCi) when used as consolidation of first complete or partial remission in patients with previously untreated, advanced-stage follicular lymphoma (FL). Patients were randomly assigned to either 90Y-ibritumomab treatment (n = 207) or observation (n = 202) within 3 months (mo) of completing initial induction therapy (chemotherapy only: 86%; rituximab in combination with chemotherapy: 14%).

Results from the first extended follow-up after a median of 3.5 years revealed a significant improvement in PFS from the time of randomization with 90Y-ibritumomab consolidation compared with control (36.5 vs 13.3 mo, respectively; P < 0.0001; Morschhauser et al. JCO. 2008;

Overall response rate to second-line treatment was 79% in the 90Y-ibritumomab group (57% CR/CRu and 22% PR) vs 78% in the control arm (59% CR/CRu, 19% PR).

Five-year overall survival was not significantly different between the groups; 93% and 89% in the 90Y-ibritumomab and control groups, respectively (P = 0.561).

To date, 40 patients have died; 18 in the 90Y-ibritumomab group and 22 in the control group.

Secondary malignancies were diagnosed in 16 patients in the 90Y-ibritumomab arm vs 9 patients in the control arm (P = 0.19). There were 6 (3%) cases of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)/acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in the 90Y-ibritumomab arm vs 1 MDS in the control arm (P = 0.063).


Other Zevalin reports at ASH 2010:

A Multi-Center Prospective Randomized Study Comparing Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin) and High-Dose BEAM Chemotherapy (Z-BEAM) Vs. BEAM Alone as the Conditioning Regimen Prior to Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation In Patients with Aggressive Lymphoma; Possible Advantage for Z-BEAM In Low-Risk Patients
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper28200.html

Phase II Study of 2-Weekly CHOP+Rituximab Followed by Yttrium-90 Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin) In Patients with Previously Untreated Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL): Final Analysis
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper27049.html

The Risk of Secondary Myelodysplastic Syndrome/Acute Leukemia Following High-Dose Yttrium-90 Ibritumomab Tiuxetan Is Analogous to That Observed Following High-Dose Chemotherapy: a Matched-Pair Analysis In Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper30605.html

Update on a Prospective Study Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Combination Therapy with Fludarabine, Mitoxantrone and Rituximab Followed by Yttrium-90 Ibritumomab Tiuxetan and Maintenance Rituximab as Front Line Therapy for Patients with Indolent Lymphomas
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper26924.html

90Yttrium Ibritumomab Tiuxetan as First Line Treatment for Follicular Lymphoma. First Results from an International Phase II Clinical Trial
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper33702.html

Bortezomib May Be Safely Combined with Y-90 Ibritumomab Tiuxetan In Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Follicular or Transformed Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Phase I Trial of Combined Induction Therapy and Bortezomib Consolidation
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper28666.html

Comparative Analysis of Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation with Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) Based Conditioning Versus Total Body Irradiation (TBI) for High-Risk Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma (DLCL): Toxicity and Efficacy
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper29132.html


90Υ-Ibritumomab Tiuxetan Followed by Rituximab Is a Safe Treatment Option for Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Non-Hodgkin s Lymphoma
http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webpr...aper31933.html

 

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Zevalin as a Single Agent in Patients With Pretreated B-Cell Lymphoma: Evaluation of the Long-Term Outcome  http://bit.ly/doQm0a 

Overall response rate was 93% (53 of 57); complete response (CR) rate was 70% (40 of 57). Twenty-six of 40 patients (65%) who obtained a CR are in continuous CR (CCR) with a median follow-up of 20 months (range, 10-42 months); 4 of them still maintain their CCR after 36 months.
 
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NEW Radioimmunotherapy: FIT to be applied?  Randomized study shows improved PFS by 2 yrs in follicular lymphoma when given as consolidation for chemotherapy  Medscape.com ( login req.)

n = The trial compared a single Zevalin treatment with observation in 414 patients with advanced (stage 3 or 4) follicular lymphoma who had achieved partial or complete remission after first-line chemotherapy. The choice of which chemotherapy regimen to use for induction was left to the physicians' discretion, and various combinations were used, including CVP, CHP, fludarabine, chlorambucil, and rituximab.
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Zevalin Licensed For First Line Consolidation Therapy for fNH, May 2008 medicalnewstoday.com

"It is particularly impressive that with one single infusion of Zevalin, we have achieved prolongation of median progression free survival by two years, with a favorable toxicity profile," said Professor Anton Hagenbeek, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, lead investigator of the FIT trial.
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 Zevalin in Mantle Cell Lymphoma touchbriefings.com   pdf  2007

Conclusion: Radiotherapy is an active treatment modality in MCL. Ibritumomab radioimmunotherapy (Zevalin) is an interesting alternative to other consolidation methods. In younger patients subjected to intensive chemotherapy followed by autologous transplant, it may be an element of a transplant conditioning regimen (i.e. Z-BEAM). In elderly patients, the role of zevalin consolidation should be further investigated in a phase III trial.
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Radiation dosimetry results and safety correlations from 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan radioimmunotherapy for relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: combined data from 4 clinical trials. J Nucl Med. 2003 Mar;44(3):465-74. PMID: 12621016 

Relapsed or refractory NHL in patients with adequate bone marrow reserve and <25% bone marrow involvement by NHL can be treated safely with (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan RIT on the basis of a fixed, weight-adjusted dosing schedule. Dosimetry and pharmacokinetic results do not correlate with toxicity.
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Salvage therapy for primary Central Nervous System lymphoma with (90)Y-Ibritumomab and Temozolomide. J Neurooncol. 2007 Jul;83(3):291-3. Epub 2007 Jan 24. PMID: 17245621 

Aggressive initial treatment of Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL) has achieved prolonged survival and occasional cures. However, some patients do not respond to initial therapy and others relapse after an initial remission. The optimal salvage regimen is not known and many different strategies have been proposed. In this report we describe the efficacy of a combination of (90)Y-Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin) and Temozolamide as a maintenance therapy for recurrent PCNS Lymphoma in two patients that are both alive and in complete remission after 9 and 10 months respectively. This combination merits further study and provides a reasonable therapeutic alternative for older patients with progressive PCNSL.
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Zevalin: Risk of MDS/AML update  www.fda.gov | Zevalin_PI.pdf 

"Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and/or acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) were reported in 5.2% (11/211) of patients enrolled in clinical studies and 1.5% (8/535) of patients included in the expanded-access trial, with median follow-up of 6.5 and 4.4 years, respectively. Among the 19 reported cases, the median time to the diagnosis of MDS or AML was 1.9 years following treatment with the Zevalin therapeutic regimen; however, the cumulative incidence continues to increase."
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Analysis of the Incidence of Treatment-Related Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in Registration and Compassionate-Use Trials of Ibritumomab Tiuxetan Radioimmunotherapy (RIT). Session Type: Oral Session  ASH 2006
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Zevalin update:  Biogen Idec and FDA notified healthcare professionals of revision to BOXED WARNINGS, WARNINGS, and ADVERSE REACTIONS sections of the Prescribing Information to describe severe cutaneous (skin) or mucocutaneous (mucosal linings) reactions, some with fatal outcome, that have been reported in association with the Zevalin therapeutic regimen in the post-marketing experience.   fda.gov/medwatch | medpagetoday.com 
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Follow-up results of a phase II study of ibritumomab tiuxetan radioimmunotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade, follicular, or transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and mild thrombocytopenia. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2004 Aug;19(4):478-81. PMID: 15453962
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ASCO 2003 - Report on Zevalin - durable responses; safety as second- or third-line therapy  Buswire
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4-year data: Safety of Yttrium-90 Ibritumomab Tiuxetan Radioimmunotherapy for Relapsed Low-Grade, Follicular, or Transformed Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2003 Apr 1;21(7):1263-70. PMID: 12663713  PubMed
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Durable Remissions Obtained with Zevalin in Recurrent Follicular Lymphoma  CancerConsultants.com 
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Zevalin: Full Prescribing Information  IDEC
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Subsequent Therapy Well Tolerated in Patients Previously Treated with Zevalin (tm)   411cancer.com  
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Zevalin Reimbursement Support  IDEC
Information on how to navigate through the complex maze of health insurance requirements
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Zevalin Safe For Patients Who Have Had Prior Radiation  OncoLink  10-9-02 2002  (scroll down after reaching page)
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Subsequent Therapy Well Tolerated in Patients Previously Treated with Zevalin (tm)  www.vacancer.com
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Biologic License Application PDF | PDF-Help
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90Y ibritumomab (Zevalin) in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: analysis of response and toxicity Year: 2002 Abstract No: 1061
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90Y ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) radioimmunotherapy does not preclude effective delivery of subsequent therapy for lymphoma Year: 2002 Abstract No: 1064
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90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) radioimmunotherapy for transformed B-cell non-HodgkinÝs lymphoma (NHL) patients Year: 2002 Abstract No: 51
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Randomized controlled trial of yttrium-90-labeled ibritumomab tiuxetan radioimmunotherapy versus rituximab immunotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade, follicular, or  transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. J Clin Oncol. 2002 May 15;20(10):2453-63. PMID: 12011122   PubMed
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Ibritumomab tiuxetan radioimmunotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma and mild thrombocytopenia: a phase II multicenter trial. Blood. 2002 Jun 15;99(12):4336-4342. PMID: 12036859  PubMed  (Lower dose used.)
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RIT and risk of MDS: Treatment-related myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and AML in patients treated with Zevalin radioimmunotherapy. J Clin Oncol. 2007 Sep 20;25(27):4285-92. Epub 2007 Aug 20.
PMID: 17709799 

Analysis of data from patients ... (746 patients) ... incidences of t-MDS and t-AML (0.7% per year after treatment) are consistent with that expected in patients with NHL who have had extensive previous chemotherapy treatment and do not appear to be increased after treatment with the ibritumomab tiuxetan regimen.
 
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For all medical concerns,  you should always consult your doctor. 
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