The Corrona US national registry collects data concerning patient status from both the rheumatologist and patient at routine clinical encounters. Corrona has functioning disease registries in ...rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthropathies, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. Corrona merges data concerning long-term effectiveness and safety, as well as comparative and cost effectiveness of agents to treat these autoimmune diseases.
Objective
Accurate prediction of treatment responses in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients can provide valuable information on effective drug selection. Anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti‐TNF) drugs ...are an important second‐line treatment after methotrexate, the classic first‐line treatment for RA. However, patient heterogeneity hinders identification of predictive biomarkers and accurate modeling of anti‐TNF drug responses. This study was undertaken to investigate the usefulness of machine learning to assist in developing predictive models for treatment response.
Methods
Using data on patient demographics, baseline disease assessment, treatment, and single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array from the Dialogue on Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods (DREAM): Rheumatoid Arthritis Responder Challenge, we created a Gaussian process regression model to predict changes in the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) for the patients and to classify them into either the responder or the nonresponder group. This model was developed and cross‐validated using data from 1,892 RA patients. It was evaluated using an independent data set from 680 patients. We examined the effectiveness of the similarity modeling and the contribution of individual features.
Results
In the cross‐validation tests, our method predicted changes in DAS28 (ΔDAS28), with a correlation coefficient of 0.405. It correctly classified responses from 78% of patients. In the independent test, this method achieved a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.393 in predicting ΔDAS28. Gaussian process regression effectively remapped the feature space and identified subpopulations that do not respond well to anti‐TNF treatments. Genetic SNP biomarkers showed small contributions in the prediction when added to the clinical models. This was the best‐performing model in the DREAM Challenge.
Conclusion
The model described here shows promise in guiding treatment decisions in clinical practice, based primarily on clinical profiles with additional genetic information.
The efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis have been evaluated in a comprehensive phase 3 program. Patients from these randomized trials could receive tocilizumab ...treatment in open-label extension trials. Here, the long-term safety profile of tocilizumab, using pooled data from all of these trials, is reported.
Cumulative safety data (as of February 6, 2009) from five core phase 3 trials, two ongoing extension trials, and one clinical pharmacology study were analyzed. Two patient populations were evaluated: an all-control population (n = 4,199), which included all patients randomly assigned in the placebo-controlled portions of the five core studies, and an all-exposed population (n = 4,009), which included patients from any of the eight studies who received at least one dose of tocilizumab.
Total exposure to tocilizumab was 8,580 patient years (PY), and total duration of observation was 9,414 PY. Overall adverse event (AE) and serious AE (SAE) rates were 278.2/100 PY and 14.4/100 PY, respectively. These events included serious infections (4.7/100 PY), opportunistic infections (0.23/100 PY), gastrointestinal perforations (0.28/100 PY), malignancy (1.1/100 PY), myocardial infarction (0.25/100 PY), and stroke (0.19/100 PY). The rates of SAEs and serious infections were stable over time; no increase with prolonged exposure was noted.
The longer-term safety profile of tocilizumab (mean treatment duration, 2.4 years) is consistent with that observed in the phase 3 studies (duration up to 1 year).
To evaluate the effects of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), interleukin-6 receptor inhibitors (IL-6Ri), and Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) on hemoglobin (Hb) and C-reactive protein (CRP) ...levels in adults enrolled in CorEvitas (formerly Corrona), a large US rheumatoid arthritis (RA) registry.
Patients who initiated TNFi, IL-6Ri, or JAKi treatment during or after January 2010, had Hb and CRP measurements at baseline and 6-month follow-up (± 3 months) and had continued therapy at least until that follow-up, through March 2020, were included in the analysis. Changes in Hb and CRP were assessed at month 6. Abnormal Hb was defined as < 12 g/dL (women) or < 13 g/dL (men); abnormal CRP was ≥ 0.8 mg/dL. Differences in Hb and CRP levels were evaluated using multivariable regression.
Of 2772 patients (TNFi, 65%; IL-6Ri, 17%; JAKi, 17%) evaluated, 1044 (38%) had abnormal Hb or CRP at initiation; an additional 252 (9%) had both abnormal Hb and CRP. At month 6, the IL-6Ri group had a greater Hb increase than the TNFi (mean difference in effect on Hb: 0.28 g/dL; 95% CI 0.19-0.38) and JAKi (mean difference in effect on Hb: 0.47 g/dL; 95% CI 0.35-0.58) groups, regardless of baseline Hb status (both p < 0.001). The CRP decrease at month 6 was greater with IL-6Ri compared with TNFi and JAKi, regardless of baseline CRP status (both p < 0.05).
These real-world results align with the mechanism of IL-6R inhibition and may inform treatment decisions for patients with RA.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), along with glucocorticoid use, is associated with cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular safety of glucocorticoids in RA is controversial and may be related to dose and ...duration of use. We determined if initiating glucocorticoids in steroid-naive RA patients would increase cardiovascular event (CVE) risk in a dose and duration-dependent manner over short-term intervals.
Patients enrolled in CorEvitas (formerly Corrona) RA registry. Cox proportional-hazards models estimated adjusted HRs (aHR) for incident CVE in patients who initiated glucocorticoid treatment, adjusting for RA duration, traditional cardiovascular risk factors and time-varying covariates: Clinical Disease activity Index, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs use and prednisone-equivalent use. Glucocorticoid use assessed current daily dose, cumulative dose and duration of use over rolling intervals of preceding 6 months and 1 year.
19 902 patients met criteria. 1106 CVE occurred (1.66/100 person-years). Increased aHR occurred at current doses of ≥5-9 mg 1.56 (1.18-2.06) and ≥10 mg 1.91 (1.31-2.79), without increased risk at 0-4 mg 1.04 (0.55-1.59). Cumulative dose over preceding 6 months showed increased aHR at 751-1100 mg 1.43 (1.04-1.98) and >1100 mg 2.05 (1.42-2.94), without increased risk at lower doses; duration of use over preceding 6 months exhibited increased aHR for >81 days of use 1.54 (1.08-2.32), without increased risk at shorter durations. One-year analyses were consistent.
Over preceding 6-month and 1-year intervals, initiating glucocorticoids in steroid-naïve RA patients is associated with increased risk of CVE at daily doses ≥5 mg and increased cumulative dose and duration of use. No association with risk for CVE was found with daily prednisone of ≤4 mg or shorter cumulative doses and durations.
Upadacitinib is a selective inhibitor of Janus kinase 1 and was efficacious in phase 2 studies in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis. We aimed to assess the efficacy of ...upadacitinib in patients with inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs).
This study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at 150 sites in 35 countries. We enrolled patients aged 18 years or older with active rheumatoid arthritis for 3 months or longer, who had received csDMARDs for at least 3 months with a stable dose for at least 4 weeks before study entry, and had an inadequate response to at least one of the following csDMARDs: methotrexate, sulfasalazine, or leflunomide. Using interactive response technology, we randomly assigned patients receiving stable background csDMARDs (2:2:1:1) to receive a once-daily extended-release formulation of upadacitinib 15 mg or 30 mg, or placebo, for 12 weeks. Patients, investigators, and the funder were masked to allocation. After 12 weeks, patients taking placebo received 15 mg or 30 mg of upadacitinib once daily, according to the prespecified randomisation assignment. The primary endpoints were the proportion of patients at week 12 who achieved 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR20), and a 28-joint disease activity score using C-reactive protein (DAS28CRP) of 3·2 or less. We did efficacy analyses in the full analysis set of all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of study drug, and used non-responder imputation for assessment of the primary outcomes. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02675426.
Between Dec 17, 2015, and Dec 22, 2016, 1083 patients were assessed for eligibility, of whom 661 were recruited and randomly assigned to receive upadacitinib 15 mg (n=221), upadacitinib 30 mg (n=219), or placebo (n=221). All patients received at least one dose of study drug, and 618 (93%) completed 12 weeks of treatment. At week 12, ACR20 was achieved by 141 (64%; 95% CI 58–70) of 221 patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg and 145 (66%; 60–73) of 219 patients receiving upadacitinib 30 mg, compared with 79 (36%; 29–42) of 221 patients receiving placebo (p<0·0001 for each dose vs placebo). DAS28(CRP) of 3·2 or less was met by 107 (48%; 95% CI 42–55) patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg and 105 (48%; 41–55) patients receiving upadacitinib 30 mg, compared with 38 (17%; 12–22) patients receiving placebo (p<0·0001 for each dose vs placebo). Adverse events were reported in 125 (57%) of 221 patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg, 118 (54%) of 219 patients receiving upadacitinib 30 mg, and 108 (49%) of 221 patients receiving placebo. The most frequently reported adverse events (≥5% of patients in any group) were nausea (16 7% of 221 in the upadacitinib 15 mg group; three 1% of 219 in the upadacitinib 30 mg group; and seven 3% of 221 in the placebo group), nasopharyngitis (12 5%; 13 6%; and nine 4%), upper respiratory tract infection (12 5%; 12 5%; and nine 4%), and headache (nine 4%; seven 3%; and 12 5%). More infections were reported for upadacitinib (64 29% of 221 patients receiving 15 mg and 69 32% of 219 patients receiving 30 mg) versus placebo (47 21% of 221 patients). There were three herpes zoster infections (one <1% in the placebo group, one <1% in the upadacitinib 15 mg group, and one <1% in the upadacitinib 30 mg group) and one primary varicella zoster virus infection (one <1% in the upadacitinib 30 mg group), two malignancies (both in the upadacitinib 30 mg group), one adjudicated major adverse cardiovascular event (in the upadacitinib 30 mg group), and five serious infections (one <1% in the placebo group, one <1% in the upadacitinib 15 mg group, three 1% in the upadacitinib 30 mg group). No deaths were reported during the trial.
Patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who received upadacitinib (15 mg or 30 mg) in combination with csDMARDs showed significant improvements in clinical signs and symptoms.
AbbVie Inc.
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