Brief Chemoimmunotherapy With R+B+M Followed by R in Elderly Patients Advanced Stage Untreated Follicular Lymphoma

Exclusion Criteria

• •Men not agreeing to take adequate contraceptive precautions during and for at least 6 months after cessation of therapy
• •History of other malignancies within 3 years prior to study entry except for: adequately treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix; basal or squamous cell skin cancer; low grade, early stage, localized prostate cancer treated surgically with curative intent; good prognosis DCIS of the breast treated with lumpectomy alone with curative intent
• •Medical condition requiring long term use (\>1 months) of systemic corticosteroids
• •Active bacterial, viral, or fungal infection requiring systemic therapy 5. Concurrent medical condition which might exclude administration of therapy
• •Cardiac insufficiency (NYHA grade III/IV; see Appendix D)
• •Myocardial infarction within 6 months of entry on study
• •Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with hypoxemia
• •Severe diabetes mellitus difficult to control with adequate insulin therapy
• •Hypertension that is difficult to control
• •Impaired renal function with creatinine clearance \<30 ml/min (see Appendix E)
• •HIV positivity
• •HBV positivity with the exception of patients HbsAg negative and Ab anti-Hbcore positive (these patients need to receive prophylaxis with Lamivudine)
• •HCV positivity with the exception of patients with no laboratory signs of active chronic hepatitis and HCV-RNA negativity
• •CNS involvement by lymphoma 16. Participation at the same time in another study in which investigational drugs are used
• •Known hypersensitivity or anaphylactic reactions to murine antibodies or proteins
• •Any other co-existing medical or psychological condition that would preclude participation in the study or compromise ability to give informed consent