Tocilizumab treats rheumatoid arthritis effectively with or without DMARDs

Further evidence of the safety and efficacy of tocilizumab in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is highlighted in research in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Experts compared the safety and efficacy of tocilizumab monotherapy with the therapy in combination with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for 24 weeks.
People with rheumatoid arthritis who were unresponsive to anti-TNF therapies or DMARDs alone were given an 8mg/kg tocilizumab dose intravenously every four weeks, plus methotrexate or another DMARD as part of a combination therapy. Those intolerant of DMARDs were given tocilizumab alone.
A total of 239 patients received tocilizumab monotherapy, with the remaining 1,442 given the combination.
Neither of the treatment options showed any significant disadvantage in terms of efficacy and the rate of adverse events between the groups was similar. A spokeswoman for Arthritis Research UK comments:
“It’s clinically very useful to know that tocilizumab works just as well taken on its own as when it’s taken in combination with methotrexate, unlike anti-TNF therapy, as it means they are not unnecessarily subjected to all the potential side-effects of DMARDs.”

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Image credit: Oliver Tacke