title: Remission in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis by tocilizumab treatment in routine clinical practice: results from 3 years of prospectively registered data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to evaluate the remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with tocilizumab (TCZ), based on prospectively registered data in clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 114 consecutive RA patients treated with TCZ for an average of 3.5 years. Remission was evaluated by using the EULAR criteria and the new ACR/EULAR Boolean-based criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 114 patients (average age 52.2 years; average disease duration 10.6 years), 76 (67 %) had previously received anti-TNF biologics. Mean baseline DAS28-ESR of 5.4 and improved to 2.4 at 36 months. Overall, DAS28-ESR <2.6 was attained by 66.7 %, while ACR/EULAR remission was attained by 35.1 %. ACR/EULAR remission rate was significantly higher in the patients who were biologics-naïve and had good response at the first month. Among 23 patients who completed the treatment for 3 years and had ACR/EULAR remission at 1 year, 15 (65 %) remained in the remission and 16 (70 %) had a DAS28-ESR <2.6 at the final follow-up. The retention rate at 36 months was 68.2 %.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with RA, TCZ is highly effective for both biologics-naïve patients and patients previously exposed to biologics, achieving a high remission rate and drug continuation rate (68.2 %) in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyushu University , Fukuoka , Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishinishi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jojima
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.forename: Hisaaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maekawa
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishizaka
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagamine
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shono
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Suematsu
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimauchi
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuru
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: Yukihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012074:Remission Induction; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; C502936:tocilizumab