rituximab + deruxtecan

**Rituximab + deruxtecan** is a hypothetical or investigational combination therapy that, if developed, would combine rituximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CD20 on B cells, with deruxtecan, a cytotoxic topoisomerase I inhibitor commonly used as the payload in antibody-drug conjugates such as trastuzumab deruxtecan. Rituximab depletes B cells through mechanisms including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), apoptosis, and modulation of immune processes, primarily used in lymphoproliferative malignancies and some autoimmune disorders[2][4][3][8]. Deruxtecan exerts cytotoxic activity via DNA topoisomerase I inhibition, leading to cell death, and is typically targeted to tumor cells when linked to a monoclonal antibody as an ADC, such as HER2 (trastuzumab deruxtecan)[6]. There is currently no record of a clinically developed or approved combination or conjugate of these two agents (rituximab and deruxtecan) as a single therapy. Therefore, this description extrapolates the mechanisms and purposes of the individual components.