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Introduction: Using a biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) as monotherapy in clinical practice for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is common and recognised by health authorities although current guidelines recommend to combine them with conventional synthetic (cs)DMARDs. This study mainly aimed to search for real-life factors influencing the use of tocilizumab as MONO or in combination (COMBO).
Methods: In this non-interventional, prospective, national, multicentre study, data were collected every 3 months over a 12-month period in RA patients starting tocilizumab. The proportion of monotherapy patients was described, together with significant explicative factors.
Results: Among the 577 analysed patients recruited from January 2012 to August 2013 (228 monotherapy patients; 40%), 79% were women, mean RA duration was 11±9 years, previous RA treatments included bDMARDs and csDMARDs in 75% of cases and mean Disease Activity Score 28 joints-Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (DAS28-ESR) was 5.2±1.3 at inclusion. Explicative factors for monotherapy were at least 65 years (OR=1.47, p=0.0485), no methotrexate within the two last years (OR=5.96, p<0.0001), past severe infection (OR=1.99, p=0.0272) and higher baseline DAS28-ESR (OR=1.22, p=0.0086). Regarding clinical results (DAS28-ESR, Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI) low disease activity and remission; ACR20/50/70 and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response; Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) score), no relevant differences between monotherapy and combination patients were observed at 1 year. A total of 23 tocilizumab-treated patients (4%) experienced serious infections; no new safety signals were noted with no differences between groups.
Conclusions: ACT-SOLO confirms the high proportion of RA patients receiving tocilizumab as MONO in clinical practice. The study also showed that clinical results at 1 year were similar between MONO and COMBO patients in a real-life setting.
Trial Registration Number: NCT01474291.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2016-000340 | DOI Listing |
Future Oncol
September 2025
Department of General Surgery, Institute of General Surgery, Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital Affiliated to Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
Immune checkpoint therapy has demonstrated significant potential in the treatment of various solid tumors. Among these, tumor-induced immunosuppression mediated by programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) represents a critical checkpoint. PD-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have been proven to exhibit substantial efficacy in solid tumors such as melanoma and bladder cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmerg Med Australas
October 2025
Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Objectives: Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is a common diagnosis among patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED). It is treated by empiric antibiotics within the ED. With a rise in antimicrobial resistance globally, it is unknown whether patients are being managed with empiric antibiotics that are appropriate for the causative organisms of APN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chemother
September 2025
Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Background: Well-differentiated (WDLPS) and dedifferentiated liposarcomas (DDLPS) are subtypes with distinct behaviors, often driven by CDK4 amplification. While CDK4/6 inhibitors such as palbociclib show promise in trials, real-world data are scarce.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 21 patients with advanced WDLPS or DDLPS treated with palbociclib monotherapy at 16 Turkish Oncology Group centers (2019-2022).
J Dermatolog Treat
December 2025
Department of Dermatology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Background: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a common autoimmune subepidermal bullous disease. Dupilumab, an IL-4/IL-13 inhibitor, represents a novel therapeutic approach for BP, but real-world long-term data in super-elderly patients are limited.
Methods: This retrospective, single-center observational study included super-elderly BP patients (≥80 years) receiving dupilumab monotherapy from September 2022 to September 2024.
Oncogene
September 2025
Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy with a dismal prognosis, characterized by a complex tumor microenvironment that promotes immunosuppression and limits the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is overexpressed in the tumor stroma and represents a promising target for therapeutic intervention. Here, we developed a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting FAP, and investigated its anti-tumor activity and ability to enhance ICB efficacy in pancreatic cancer.
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