Sustained Response Following Discontinuation of Methotrexate in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Subcutaneous Tocilizumab

Kremer JM, Rigby W, Singer NG, Birchwood C, Gill D, Reiss W, Pei J, Michalska M.
Arthritis Rheumatol 2018;70:1200–08 DOI 10.1002/art.40493

The COMP-ACT study showed patients achieving low disease activity (LDA) with tocilizumab (TCZ) plus methotrexate (MTX) can discontinue MTX, while maintaining disease control for up to 16 weeks. Previous studies have shown TCZ to be efficacious as a monotherapy or in combination with MTX in patients with RA1,2. Patients frequently discontinue taking DMARDs, such as MTX, due to intolerance or adverse events. COMP-ACT is a randomised, double-blind, 52-week study evaluating the sustained efficacy of...

Keywords: IL-6, Tocilizumab, Clinical, Efficacy

Impact of Tocilizumab Monotherapy On Patient-Reported Outcomes in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis from Two Randomised Controlled Trials

Strand V, Michalska M, Birchwood C, Pei J, Tuckwell K, Finch R, Gabay C, Kavanaugh A, Jones G.
RMD Open;3:e000496. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2017-000496

This post hoc analysis of 2 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) AMBITION and ADACTA found that tocilizumab monotherapy results in substantial and clinically meaningful improvements in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) over 24 weeks. PROs assessed included patient global assessment (PtGA), pain, HAQ-DI, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT-F) and Short-Form-36 (SF-36) physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) and eight domain scores. Tocilizumab (TCZ)...

Keywords: IL-6, Tocilizumab, Clinical, PRO