Conference Coverage

Use of IL-6 Receptor Inhibitors Increased in Patients With Adult Still Disease Following Approval of Intravenous Tocilizumab

11/27/2022

The authors of a recent study that was presented at the American College of Rheumatology Convergence 2022 found that the use of interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor inhibitors increased in patients with adult Still disease (ASD) in Japan following the nationwide approval of intravenous tocilizumab (TCZ-IV) for the treatment of ASD in May 2019.

The results from the study demonstrated that patients can be spared the use of glucocorticoids (GCs) for the treatment of ASD, which can be beneficial as some patients fail to respond to GCs or relapse upon GC dose tapering.

The retrospective cohort study used claims data from the Medical Data Vision Company, Limited (MDV) database. The 4281 participants in cohort 1 were aged 16 years or older with ASD or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) between January 2017 and March 2021, and the 193 participants in cohort 2 initiated TCZ-IV between May 2019 and March 2021.

In cohort 1, the researchers examined the time course of the treatment pattern for patients with ASD every 3 months. In cohort 2, the index date was the initial TCZ-IV prescription date, and the researchers examined the number of patients on oral GCs of less than 5 mg per day 1 year after TCZ-IZ initiation, TCZ-IV retention rate, and administration interval of TCZ-IV.

“The use of IL-6 receptor inhibitors increased in patients with ASD following TCZ-IV approval for ASD (18.3% in MDV during January-March 2021),” according to the researchers. “This study demonstrates the potential GC-sparing effect of TCZ-IV in patients with ASD.”

–Jessica Bard

 

Reference:

Kaneko Y, Kameda H, Ikeda K, Yamashita K, Ozaki R, Tanaka Y. Treatment pattern and changes in oral glucocorticoid dose after tocilizumab treatment in patients with Adult Still’s disease: an analysis of a japanese claims database. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022;74(suppl 9). Accessed November 15, 2022. https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/treatment-pattern-and-changes-in-oral-glucocorticoid-dose-after-tocilizumab-treatment-in-patients-with-adult-stills-disease-an-analysis-of-a-japanese-claims-database/