TY - JOUR T1 - Glucocorticoid Effect on Radiographic Progression in Placebo Arms of Rheumatoid Arthritis Biologics Trials JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.150932 SP - jrheum.150932 AU - Maarten Boers AU - Daniel Aletaha AU - Christopher M. Mela AU - Daniel G. Baker AU - Josef S. Smolen Y1 - 2016/04/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2016/03/28/jrheum.150932.abstract N2 - 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%–64%, baseline damage was 11–82 Sharp/van der Heijde points, and progression in the placebo groups was 0.5–4.8 points in 6 months. In the pooled IFX studies, GC cotreatment reduced 6-month progression by 2.6 points (95% CI 0.6–4.5). In the TCZ study (progression rate 0.5 Genant points), no such difference was seen. Conclusion GC cotreatment may affect results in RA trials. ER -