Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Rheumatoid Arthritis
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Rheumatoid Arthritis
    Risk of TB Higher for Patients Taking Infliximab, Adalimumab, Than Etanercept - (DGNews)
    Golimumab Effective in Patients With RA Who Have Poor Response to Other Drugs - (DGNews)
    TopAbstracts in Rheumatoid Arthritis 06/25/2009 - (DGNews)
    Initial Therapy With Adalimumab Plus Methotrexate Leads to Better Outcomes Over 5 Years in Patients With Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: Presented at EULAR - (DGDispatch)
    Abatacept Plus Methotrexate Safe, Effective for Up to 5 Years in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Presented at EULAR - (DGDispatch)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Benefits of Early, Aggressive, and Appropriate Intervention in Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Safety of Novel Immunomodulatory Therapies
      Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Heart of the Matter Assessing Cardiovascular Risk in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
      New Recommendations for Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs and Emerging Options for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis
      Failing a TNF Inhibitor: What About Switching?

      Webcasts/CME archive

       Recent cases - Rheumatoid Arthritis
        Patient with Hepatitis B and Rheumatoid Arthritis
        Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation for Rheumatoid Arthritis of the Knee: A Case Report
        Complete Heart Block and Severe Aortic Stenosis in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthtritis: A Case Report
        Limited Wegener's Granulomatosis Presenting as Lung Nodules in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case Report
        Aseptic Meningitis in a Patient Taking Etanercept for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case Report

        Cases archive
          




        my personal edition > rheumatoid arthritis > news
        divider

          E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

        DGDispatch


        Rituximab Effective for Tumor Necrosis Factor Nonresponders: Presented at ACR

        By Bruce Sylvester

        SAN DIEGO, CA -- November 16, 2005 -- Rituximab is effective as adjunct therapy with methotrexate for patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have not responded adequately to antitumor necrosis (TNF) inhibitors, researchers reported here at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting (ACR).

        The findings, from the Randomized Evaluation of Long-term Efficacy of Rituximab in RA (REFLEX), was presented at a press briefing on November 14th.

        "TNF blockers have led to a revolution in treatment, but about 25% of patients have an inadequate response or toxicity issues," said Stanley B. Cohen, MD, medical director, Radiant Research, Dallas, Texas. "So we need to do something else for this large group of patients. Adding rituximab could be it."

        The investigators conducted a 6-month study, enrolling and following 520 patients. Subjects received stable doses of methotrexate and were randomized to either a single course of 1000 mg of rituximab or placebo given intravenously on days 1 and 15.

        All subjects received corticosteroid treatment before each infusion and a brief course of oral glucocorticoids between the 2 injections.

        The investigators evaluated all subjects every 4 weeks for 6 months, examining for toxicity and for efficacy (as measured by standard criteria of disease activity developed by the American College of Rheumatology -- ACR 20/50/70).

        ACR 20 was achieved by 51% of the rituximab group and 18% of placebo subjects. ACR 50 was achieved by 27% of rituximab patients and 5% of placebo patients. ACR 70 was achieved by 12% and 1% of subjects, respectively.

        All differences in scores between the rituximab and placebo groups were statistically significant.

        Rituximab was generally well tolerated.

        The authors concluded that these results confirm rituximab is highly effective and well tolerated when given in combination with methotrexate in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who have inadequate responses to 1 or more anti-TNF therapies.


        Based on the REFLEX data, a supplemental Biologics License Application was submitted to the United States Food and Drug Administration by Biogen Idec, which discovered Rituxican, and Genentech, which comarkets the drug in the United States. The companies announced that the FDA accepted and granted Priority Review status to the sBLA on October 31st. Rituximab is currently approved for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

        The study was supported by Roche.


        [Presentation title: Efficacy and Safety of Rituximab in Active R A Patients Who Experienced an Inadequate Response to One or More Anti- T N F a Therapies ( R E F L E X Study). Abstract 1830]



        E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague   To print, use this version






        All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2009 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



        The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
           Feedback
        Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
        Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
        1
        2
        3
        4
        5
        6
        7
        Send