title: TNF-alpha antagonist survival rate in a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis patients observed under conditions of standard clinical practice.
abstract: A cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the Lombardy Rheumatology Network (LOHREN) registry and receiving anti-TNF therapy was evaluated after 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Of the 1114 patients in the registry 1064 met the clinical criteria for inclusion with 519 receiving infliximab, 303 adalimumab, and 242 etanercept. The therapeutic survival curve of these patients showed that the likelihood of continuing anti-TNF therapy was 78.8% after 12 months, 65.2% after 24 months, and 52.9% after 36 months, with a risk of dropout similar for inefficacy and adverse events. There were 405 anti-TNF therapy discontinuations (38.1%): 180 (16.9%) due to inefficacy, 194 (18.2%) adverse events, and 31 (2.9%) other reasons. Four deaths (2 septicemia, 1 postinfective cerebritis, 1 heart failure) were considered to be related to anti-TNF therapy. Of the discontinuations, 219 (54.1%) occurred within the first 12 months: 110 due to adverse events, 89 inefficacy, and 20 due to other reasons. After 36 months, the likelihood of survival on etanercept (62.5%) was significantly greater than the likelihood of survival on infliximab (49.1%) or adalimumab (53.6%). A higher risk of therapy discontinuations due to adverse events was associated with increasing age, a corticosteroid > 5 mg/day, a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a higher risk of therapy discontinuations due to inefficacy was associated with the previous use of > or = 4 disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and a high ESR. Comorbidities, increasing DAS28 values and co-therapy with methotrexate were associated with a lower risk of discontinuation.
authors.affiliation: Day Hospital of Rheumatology, G. Pini Orthopaedic Institute, Milan, Italy. marchesoni@gpini.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchesoni
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zaccara
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gorla
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bazzani
authors.forename: Piercarlo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sarzi-Puttini
authors.forename: Fabiola
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Atzeni
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caporali
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bobbio-Pallavicini
authors.forename: Ennio Giulio
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Favalli
mesh_terms: D000068879:Adalimumab; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D000068800:Etanercept; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007239:Infections / Q000139:chemically induced; D000069285:Infliximab; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab; D000068879:Adalimumab; D000068800:Etanercept