Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia

Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a rare, slow-growing non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which malignant lymphoplasmacytic B-cells multiply out of control, infiltrate the bone marrow and produce large amounts of IgM-derived M-protein.
This in turn results in the symptoms of Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, which include anemia, hyperviscosity, and cryoglobulinemia. When serum levels of the M-protein are high, haemoglobin and platelet counts are low, and the patient presents with substantial symptoms, treatment is usually initiated.
Current treatment options are not curative and traditionally consist of nucleoside analogues and alkylators. However, molecular-targeted agents have been explored.
One prominent example is rituximab, a monoclonal antibody that targets CD20 cell-surface proteins.
Once bound to CD20 receptors, rituximab recruits and activates natural killer cells, which release cytotoxic molecules and trigger apoptosis of drug-bound malignant B-cells.
In order to increase its efficacy, rituximab has also been combined with a variety of other agents in several clinical trials.