@article {Boersjrheum.150932, author = {Maarten Boers and Daniel Aletaha and Christopher M. Mela and Daniel G. Baker and Josef S. Smolen}, title = {Glucocorticoid Effect on Radiographic Progression in Placebo Arms of Rheumatoid Arthritis Biologics Trials}, elocation-id = {jrheum.150932}, year = {2016}, doi = {10.3899/jrheum.150932}, publisher = {The Journal of Rheumatology}, abstract = {Objective To assess the effect of glucocorticoids (GC) on damage progression in placebo-biologic arms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) biologics trials. Methods Posthoc metaanalysis of 2 infliximab (IFX) trials (established and early RA) and 1 tocilizumab (TCZ) trial (established RA). Results The proportion of patients receiving GC was 38\%{\textendash}64\%, baseline damage was 11{\textendash}82 Sharp/van der Heijde points, and progression in the placebo groups was 0.5{\textendash}4.8 points in 6 months. In the pooled IFX studies, GC cotreatment reduced 6-month progression by 2.6 points (95\% CI 0.6{\textendash}4.5). In the TCZ study (progression rate 0.5 Genant points), no such difference was seen. Conclusion GC cotreatment may affect results in RA trials.}, issn = {0315-162X}, URL = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2016/03/28/jrheum.150932}, eprint = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2016/03/28/jrheum.150932.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Rheumatology} }