Publications
View and download slide summaries of the latest original articles focusing on cytokine signalling therapies within rheumatoid arthritis. All materials produced by the CSF team are subsequently reviewed and approved by individual Steering Committee members.
September 2022
Consensus statement on blocking interleukin-6 receptor and interleukin-6 in inflammatory conditions: an update
doi: 10.1136/ard-2022-222784.
Blocking the IL-6R is a major therapeutic advance for many diseases in adults and children. Updated consensus statement provides guidance to rheumatologists and other experts, as well as patients and administrators, on managing patients with the use of drugs blocking the IL-6 pathway.
July 2020
Safety of synthetic and biological DMARDs: a systematic literature review informing the 2019 update of the EULAR recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2020;79:760-770
This SLR informed the 2019 EULAR taskforce updating recommendations for RA management. Overall, no new safety signals were reported. The known safety profile of bDMARDs was confirmed and extended to tsDMARDS. IL-6i associated lower intestinal perforation has been further confirmed, while VTE and PE concerns in JAKi treatment need further evaluation.Previous updates for the EULAR recommendations on RA pharmacological management were conducted in 2016. In this SLR safety of csDMARDs, tsDMARDs, and...
February 2020
EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis – 2019 Update and Consensus Statement on JAKinibs
Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Jan 22. pii: annrheumdis-2019-216655.
The EULAR recommendations for the management of RA have become increasingly useful in providing rheumatologists, patients, payers and other stakeholders with the evidence-based guidance and views of experts on the optimal use and sequence of pharmaceutical therapies in patients with RA. Over the course of the last decade, the evolution of the treatment landscape has already required two updates. The release of the new addition updates the 2016 recommendations.An international task force consider...
Radiographic Joint Damage in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: Comparing Tocilizumab- and Methotrexate-based Treat-to-target Strategies
Rheumatology (Oxford) 2018; 57(2):309–17
Tocilizumab (TCZ) therapy in DMARD-naïve patients with RA, is more effective at reducing erosion progression, particularly in the feet, compared with treat-to-target methotrexate (MTX) therapy. This analysis looked at radiographic joint damage, including separate examination of erosion progression and joint space narrowing (JSN) in the hands and feet of patients enrolled in the U-Act-Early trial. Radiographic damage is a common symptom of RA, with treat-to-target strategies aimed at preventing ...
January 2018
Patient-Reported Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Treated to Target with a Tocilizumab- or Methotrexate-based Strategy
Rheumatology (Oxford) 2017 Dec 1;56(12):2179-2189 doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kex319
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) vastly improved in the first 24 weeks post-initiation of tocilizumab (TCZ) therapies compared to methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy in the U-Act-Early trial.U-Act-Early was a two-year, treat-to-target study that compared the safety and efficacy of TCZ and MTX treatment strategies in DMARD-naïve patients with early RA. Sustained remission was classed as more effective in patients given TCZ monotherapy or combination therapy with MTX compared to MTX alone. TCZ therapie...
October 2016
Tocilizumab as Monotherapy or Combination Therapy for Treating Active Rheumatoid Arthritis: a Meta-analysis of efficacy and Safety Reported in Randomized Controlled Trials
Arthritis Res Ther 2016; 18:211. DOI 10.1186/s13075-016-1108-9
This is the first meta-analysis comparing efficacy and safety of TCZ monotherapy (TCZMONO) versus TCZ + csDMARD (TCZCOMBI) in patients with RA. The findings show that similar efficacy can be expected with TCZ monotherapy in patients with intolerance to csDMARDs compared with inadequate responders to csDMARDs who switch to TCZ add-on therapy.A total of 6679 patients from 13 studies were included, receiving: 1298, TCZMONO; 3077, TCZCOMBI; 2204, csDMARDs. Meta-analyses were performed for the follow...Keywords:
November 2013
EULAR recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis with synthetic and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: 2013 update
Ann Rheum Dis. 2013 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204573
The 2010 EULAR recommendations represented a significant step forward in the management of rheumatoid arthritis, and they have been widely adopted across the world. However, in the rapidly evolving world of rheumatology, it was recognised that a substantial amount of new evidence has accumulated, both on agents approved at that time as well as data on new compounds that have become available over the last 3–4 years. This motivated EULAR to form an international task force to update their recomme...