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We read with great interest the letter published by Berger et al in which the authors showed that relapse-free survival for giant cell arteritis (GCA) treated with tocilizumab (TCZ) was… Click to show full abstract
We read with great interest the letter published by Berger et al in which the authors showed that relapse-free survival for giant cell arteritis (GCA) treated with tocilizumab (TCZ) was longer in patients with an interleukin (IL) 6 decline (slope ≤0.1).1 In contrast with Berger et al ,1 IL-6 levels at the last TCZ infusion were not found to predict the risk of relapse in our phase 2 prospective open-label clinical trial that included 20 patients with GCA (19/20 patients with new-onset GCA) treated with prednisone and TCZ (8 mg/kg/4 weeks from inclusion to week 12 (W12)). These patients were followed for 52 weeks, and IL-6 levels were monitored by luminex (eBioscience) at inclusion (W0), W12 and W26.2 As a consequence of the blockade of the IL-6 pathway, acute-phase reaction proteins (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein …
Journal Title: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Year Published: 2019
Link to full text (if available)
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