Managing Giant Cell Arteritis With Tocilizumab: Relapses and Adverse Events

In this issue of The Journal of Rheumatology, Nagase et al assessed the 2-year effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab (TCZ) in treating Japanese patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) in real-world settings.¹

TCZ targets interleukin 6 (IL-6), a key cytokine involved in the inflammatory processes of GCA. Both open-label studies reflecting daily clinical practice^2,3 and controlled trials^4,5 have shown the effectiveness of TCZ in managing GCA in patients from Western countries.