Angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) is one of the most common T-cell lymphomas, second only to peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS). Initially AITL was considered a non-malignant lymphadenopathy with immune hyperactivation, nowadays being classified as a PTCL.

Rituximab is a chimeric (20% rodent and 80% human) monoclonal antibody that binds to the CD20 antigen present on the cell surface and leads to depletion of mature B-cells [1,2]. It is the first approved monoclonal antibody to be used in the therapy of indolent B-cell non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Lymphoma represents the most common form of hematological malignancy in the developed world, accounting for 3.6% of all cancers and 55.6% of all blood cancers in Europe, with non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) representing 90% of cases.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a heterogeneous disease with variable outcomes. The majority of patients benefit from chemo-immunotherapy; however, 30 to 40% relapse after first-line treatment, and 10% are refractory to first-line treatment. This variability in outcome has led to the identification of prognostic factors to stratify patients based on their risk of relapse. The five-factor international prognostic index (IPI) was formulated for such risk stratification more than 20 years ago, based on clinical information obtained from patients with aggressive lymphomas treated with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP)-like chemotherapy. The addition of rituximab to CHOP chemotherapy led to improved outcomes, diminishing the discriminatory capacity of IPI amongst risk groups. Efforts to enhance the prognostic model by adding or defining new factors have only led to minor improvements without the ability to identify patients at risk of an inferior outcome.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) was first described in the Southwest islands of Japan in 1977 [1]. Then, the HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virustype 1) was isolated in the United States in 1981 in two patients, one with mycosis fungoïdes and the other with Sezary syndrome [2,3], which have been consequently renamed.