Re-treating with RTX at 6 months a success

Rheumatoid arthritis patients who fail to respond to initial treatment with rituximab (RTX) can be successfully re-treated with a second course of RTX after six months, say researchers of a study presented at the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the study of 104 patients treated with rituximab, 90% did not respond clinically to treatment. Re-treating these patients with a second course of RTX six months later resulted in 48% achieving complete B cell depletion and 72% having a clinical response – defined by a moderate or better EULAR response. Overall, 32% of the re-treated patients had a good response and 16% were in remission. A significant improvement was also observed in disease activity score (p <0.001). Dr Edward Vital of Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Leeds, UK, who led the study, said that although rituximab can be effective in RA, around a third of patients fail to achieve an adequate response the first time they are treated. “Our study has shown that re-treating patients at a specific stage can enhance clinical responses to a level equal to those who fully respond to the RTX course at first administration.” “This provides hope for patients who are classified as non-responders and would normally have limited other treatment options. The next question is whether patients who have predictors of poor response could be treated more intensively from the outset, for example with a different dose of rituximab,” he concluded....