Dinesh Khanna1, Christopher P Denton2, Angelika Jahreis3, Jacob M van Laar4, Tracy M Frech5, Marina E Anderson6, Murray Baron7, Lorinda Chung8, Gerhard Fierlbeck9, Santhanam Lakshminarayanan10, Yannick Allanore11, Janet E Pope12, Gabriela Riemekasten13, Virginia Steen14, Ulf Müller-Ladner15, Robert Lafyatis16, Giuseppina Stifano16, Helen Spotswood17, Haiyin Chen-Harris3, Sebastian Dziadek18, Alyssa Morimoto3, Thierry Sornasse3, Jeffrey Siegel3, Daniel E Furst19. 1. University of Michigan Scleroderma Program, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: khannad@med.umich.edu. 2. University College London, London, UK. 3. Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA. 4. University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands. 5. University of Utah, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. 6. University of Liverpool and Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool, UK. 7. Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada. 8. Stanford University School of Medicine and Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA. 9. University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. 10. University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA. 11. Paris Descartes University and Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. 12. Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. 13. Charité University Hospital, German Rheumatism Research Centre, Berlin, Germany. 14. Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA. 15. Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Kerckhoff Clinic, Bad Nauheim, Germany. 16. Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. 17. Roche Products, Welwyn Garden City, UK. 18. Roche, Basel, Switzerland. 19. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis is a rare disabling autoimmune disease with few treatment options. The efficacy and safety of tocilizumab, an interleukin 6 receptor-α inhibitor, was assessed in the faSScinate phase 2 trial in patients with systemic sclerosis. METHODS: We did this double-blind, placebo-controlled study at 35 hospitals in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the USA. We enrolled adults with progressive systemic sclerosis of 5 or fewer years' duration from first non-Raynaud's sign or symptom. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to weekly subcutaneous tocilizumab 162 mg or placebo. The primary endpoint was the difference in mean change from baseline in modified Rodnan skin score at 24 weeks. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01532869. FINDINGS:We enrolled 87 patients: 43 assigned totocilizumab and 44 assigned to placebo. The least squares mean change in modified Rodnan skin score at 24 weeks was -3·92 in the tocilizumab group and -1·22 in the placebo group (difference -2·70, 95% CI -5·85 to 0·45; p=0·0915). The least squares mean change at 48 weeks was -6·33 in the tocilizumab group and -2·77 in the placebo group (treatment difference -3·55, 95% CI -7·23 to 0·12; p=0·0579). In one of several exploratory analyses, fewer patients in the tocilizumab group than in the placebo group had a decline in percent predicted forced vital capacity at 48 weeks (p=0·0373). However, we detected no significant difference in disability, fatigue, itching, or patient or clinician global disease severity. 42 (98%) of 43 patients in the tocilizumab group versus 40 (91%) of 44 in the placebo group had adverse events. 14 (33%) versus 15 (34%) had serious adverse events. Serious infections were more common in the tocilizumab group (seven [16%] of 43 patients) than in the placebo group (two [5%] of 44). One patient died in relation to tocilizumab treatment. INTERPRETATION:Tocilizumab was not associated with a significant reduction in skin thickening. However, the difference was greater in the tocilizumab group than in the placebo group and we found some evidence of less decline in forced vital capacity. The efficacy and safety of tocilizumab should be investigated in a phase 3 trial before definitive conclusions can be made about its risks and benefits. FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche, Genentech.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND:Systemic sclerosis is a rare disabling autoimmune disease with few treatment options. The efficacy and safety of tocilizumab, an interleukin 6 receptor-α inhibitor, was assessed in the faSScinate phase 2 trial in patients with systemic sclerosis. METHODS: We did this double-blind, placebo-controlled study at 35 hospitals in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the USA. We enrolled adults with progressive systemic sclerosis of 5 or fewer years' duration from first non-Raynaud's sign or symptom. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to weekly subcutaneous tocilizumab 162 mg or placebo. The primary endpoint was the difference in mean change from baseline in modified Rodnan skin score at 24 weeks. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01532869. FINDINGS: We enrolled 87 patients: 43 assigned to tocilizumab and 44 assigned to placebo. The least squares mean change in modified Rodnan skin score at 24 weeks was -3·92 in the tocilizumab group and -1·22 in the placebo group (difference -2·70, 95% CI -5·85 to 0·45; p=0·0915). The least squares mean change at 48 weeks was -6·33 in the tocilizumab group and -2·77 in the placebo group (treatment difference -3·55, 95% CI -7·23 to 0·12; p=0·0579). In one of several exploratory analyses, fewer patients in the tocilizumab group than in the placebo group had a decline in percent predicted forced vital capacity at 48 weeks (p=0·0373). However, we detected no significant difference in disability, fatigue, itching, or patient or clinician global disease severity. 42 (98%) of 43 patients in the tocilizumab group versus 40 (91%) of 44 in the placebo group had adverse events. 14 (33%) versus 15 (34%) had serious adverse events. Serious infections were more common in the tocilizumab group (seven [16%] of 43 patients) than in the placebo group (two [5%] of 44). One patient died in relation to tocilizumab treatment. INTERPRETATION:Tocilizumab was not associated with a significant reduction in skin thickening. However, the difference was greater in the tocilizumab group than in the placebo group and we found some evidence of less decline in forced vital capacity. The efficacy and safety of tocilizumab should be investigated in a phase 3 trial before definitive conclusions can be made about its risks and benefits. FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche, Genentech.
Authors: Sarah Geerts; Wim Wuyts; Ellen De Langhe; Jan Lenaerts; Jonas Yserbyt Journal: Sarcoidosis Vasc Diffuse Lung Dis Date: 2017-04-28 Impact factor: 0.670
Authors: Vivek Nagaraja; Marco Matucci-Cerinic; Daniel E Furst; Masataka Kuwana; Yannick Allanore; Christopher P Denton; Ganesh Raghu; Vallerie Mclaughlin; Panduranga S Rao; James R Seibold; John D Pauling; Michael L Whitfield; Dinesh Khanna Journal: Arthritis Rheumatol Date: 2020-05-18 Impact factor: 10.995
Authors: Dinesh Khanna; Daniel E Furst; Philip J Clements; Yannick Allanore; Murray Baron; Lazlo Czirjak; Oliver Distler; Ivan Foeldvari; Masataka Kuwana; Marco Matucci-Cerinic; Maureen Mayes; Thomas Medsger; Peter A Merkel; Janet E Pope; James R Seibold; Virginia Steen; Wendy Stevens; Christopher P Denton Journal: J Scleroderma Relat Disord Date: 2017 Jan-Apr