July 2016

Two-year Efficacy of Tocilizumab in Patients with Active Rheumatoid Arthritis in Clinical Practice

Reumatol Clin. 2016; May 10 doi: 10.1016/j.reuma.2016.03.014 [Epub ahead of print]

The efficacy and safety of tocilizumab has been studied in several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) but due to the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria of RCTs, real-life observational studies are needed to supplement the findings from these trials. This small longitudinal, open-label study from an outpatient clinic in Spain evaluated the effectiveness, survival rate and reasons for treatment discontinuations in 85 patients treated with tocilizumab over a 24-month period. The study also ass...

May 2016

Effects of Tofacitinib and other DMARDs on Lipid Profiles in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Implications for the Rheumatologist

Semin Arthritis Rheum 2016;46:71–80

Increased inflammation and CV disease have been associated with lower total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) levels in RA patients – an apparent paradox to what is observed in the general population. Previously, reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels have been associated with increased risk of CV, and an inverse relationship observed with levels of HDL-C level and C-reactive protein (CRP).This analysis of the literature with regard to studies using DMARDs in RA patie...

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March 2016

Pregnancy outcome after tocilizumab therapy in early pregnancy – a case series from the German Embryotox Pharmacovigilance Center

Reproductive Toxicology doi:10.1016/j.reprotox.2016.01.002

MTX users have an increased incidence of spontaneous abortions (SABs) compared to baseline risk (42.5%1 vs. 13-17%2). Tocilizumab (TCZ) has been shown to have similar efficacy with or without MTX. There is currently limited data on the effect of TCZ on pregnancy, but with more safety data, TCZ could be an alternative for RA patients of reproductive age. The patients were enrolled at Embryotox Berlin, a pharmacovigilance center providing risk assessment during pregnancy, between 2011 and 2014 dur...

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Comparison of adding tocilizumab to methotrexate with switching to tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis with inadequate response to methotrexate: 52-week results from a prospective, randomised, controlled study (SURPRISE study)

Ann Rheum Dis 2016 Jan 5 DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-208426 [Epub ahead of print

MTX is the primary drug in RA management because of its long-term effectiveness and safety profile; however, in patients who have insufficient response (IR) to MTX, treatment adjustments are needed – either to combine a bDMARD with MTX or to switch to a bDMARD from MTX. In the SURPRISE study, the efficacy and safety of adding TCZ to MTX (ADD-ON) or switching MTX to TCZ (SWITCH) was evaluated in 233 patients with moderate to highly active RA who were randomised 1:1. Both treatment groups were adm...

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Early changes in blood-based joint tissue destruction biomarkers are predictive of response to tocilizumab in the LITHE study

Arthritis Research & Therapy (2016) 18:13 DOI: 10.1186/s13075-015-0913-x

One of the major challenges of RA treatment is choosing the correct treatment and dose for the individual patient, as treatment response can be heterogeneous. To help select the appropriate treatment, there is a need for effective and non-invasive ways to monitor disease activity and progression. In the LITHE study, Bay-Jensen et al. investigate whether early biomarker measurements could predict early joint protection response to TCZ. The biomarkers (CRPM, VICM, C1M, C2M, C3M, and CTX-I/OC [bone...

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January 2016

Systematic review and meta-analysis of serious infections with tofacitinib and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug treatment in rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials

Arthritis Res Ther. 2015 Dec 15;17(1):362

Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of RA. By modulating the signalling of cytokines that are integral to lymphocyte activation, proliferation, and function, tofacitinib may suppress multiple elements of immune response. A systematic literature search including all biologics and tofacitinib procured 66 RCTs and 22 LTEs that were included in a meta-analysis to provide estimated incidence rates, risk ratios, and risk differences of serious infection for each therapy. Es...

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December 2015

Comparison of lipid and lipid-associated cardiovascular risk marker changes after treatment with tocilizumab or adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2015;0:1-7. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-207872 [Epub ahead of print]

RA patients have increased risk of CVD compared with the general population that is not fully explained by traditional risk factors. This is a post-hoc analysis of data from a clinical trial that compared IL-6 and TNF-α signaling inhibition to compare changes in lipids and lipid-associated CV risk markers in 324 patients treated with TCZ IV q4w or ADA SC q2w for 24 weeks. HDL-SAA and sPLA2 IIA is also measured in an additional subpopulation of 87 and 97 TCZ and ADA patients, respectively.Greater...

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Incidence and complications of interstitial lung disease in users of tocilizumab, rituximab, abatacept and anti-tumor necrosis factor α agents, a retrospective cohort study

Arthritis Research & Therapy (2015) 17:319 DOI: 10.1186/s13075-015-0835-7

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common extra-articular condition for RA patients. This retrospective cohort study of health insurance databases investigates the ILD incidence and exacerbation between ABA, TCZ, RTX, and anti-TNFα agents in adult RA patients with prior biologic therapy. Two definitions of ILD were used: one specific, one sensitive; descriptive results were produced for both. In patients with no history of ILD, the overall incidence rate of ILD ranged from 1.8% to 6.4% (depend...

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October 2015

Effectiveness of tocilizumab with and without synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis: results from a European collaborative study

Ann Rheum Dis. 2015 Sep 15. doi:10.1136/ annrheumdis-2015-207760

Biological DMARDs have markedly changed the management and outcome of rheumatoid arthritis. Most international guidelines recommend the use of biological DMARDs in combination with MTX or other synthetic DMARDs (sDMARDs) (where MTX is not tolerated or contraindicated), based primarily on the observation that MTX enhances the efficacy of TNF antagonists in both clinical trials and observational studies.This study examined the effectiveness of tocilizumab (TCZ), an anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibody, ...

Comparison of the efficacies of abatacept and tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by propensity score matching

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2015 Aug 5. doi:pii: annrheumdis-2015-207784. 10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-207784. [Epub ahead of print]

This study compared the clinical outcomes at one year after the treatment either abatacept or tocilizumab in routine clinical practice. This study employed propensity score matching and demonstrated that abatacept and tocilizumab had comparable continuing efficacies, and that treatment with the drugs resulted in comparable clinical and functional remission rates. Additionally, abatacept and tocilizumab showed similar effectiveness with or without MTX.While clinical efficacies, including SDAI, w...