Publication:

Real-world use and acceptance of biosimilar rituximab in oncology practice in India

Background To describe the treatment patterns, patient characteristics and usage pattern of biosimilar rituximab for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) in India.

Methods This real-world, retrospective, analysis included adult patients receiving biosimilar rituximab between April 2021 and March 2022.

Results A total of 750 patients with NHL who received biosimilar rituximab were included. The most common indications reported in this analysis were diffuse large cell B-cell lymphoma [DLBCL, 64.5% (n=484)], follicular lymphoma, [FL, 23.7% (n=178)], and mantle cell lymphoma [MCL, 5.3% (n=40)]; other subtypes constituted 6.4% of the patients (n=48). The mean age of patients among DLBCL, FL and MCL was 65.5, 55.3 and 57 years, respectively. Across the lymphomas, >90% of the patients received R-chemo as first-line therapy. R-CHOP was the most common regimen across indications.

Conclusions Biosimilar rituximab-based chemotherapy is being adopted in real‑world clinical practice in India for the management of patients with B-cell NHL including DLBCL, FL, MCL and other lymphomas.