The CXCR4 antagonist plerixafor enhances the effect of rituximab in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cell lines

摘要

BackgroundDiffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive disease with variable clinical outcome, accounting for at least 25-30 % of adult non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Approximately one third of DLBCL patients are not cured by the currently used treatment regimen, R-CHOP. Hence, new treatment strategies are needed. Antagonizing the CXCR4 receptor might be promising since the CXCR4-CXCL12 axis is implicated in several aspects of tumor pathogenesis as well as in protection from chemotherapeutic response. In Burkitt lymphoma, the CXCR4 antagonist plerixafor has already been shown to enhance the therapeutic effect of rituximab, the immunotherapeutic agent of R-CHOP; but this is yet to be confirmed for DLBCL. We, therefore, investigated the effect of plerixafor on DLBCL cellular response to rituximab.