PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Maarten Boers
AU  - Daniel Aletaha
AU  - Christopher M. Mela
AU  - Daniel G. Baker
AU  - Josef S. Smolen
TI  - Glucocorticoid Effect on Radiographic Progression in Placebo Arms of Rheumatoid Arthritis Biologics Trials
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.150932
DP  - 2016 Jun 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 1024--1026
VI  - 43
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/43/6/1024.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/43/6/1024.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2016 Jun 01; 43
AB  - 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.