Tocilizumab in treatment-naïve patients with Takayasu arteritis: TOCITAKA French prospective multicenter open-labelled trial
Abstract ObjectivesTo assess long term efficacy of tocilizumab in treatment-naive patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK).MethodsProspective open-labelled trial in naïve patients with TAK who received steroids at the dose of 0.7 mg/kg/day and 7 infusions of 8 mg/kg/month of tocilizumab. The primary endpoint was the number of patients which discontinued steroids after 7 infusions of tocilizumab. Secondary endpoints included disease activity and the number of relapses during an 18-month follow-up.ResultsThirteen patients with TAK were included, with a median age of 32 years [19-45] and 12 (92%) females. Six (54%) patients met the primary end-point. A significant decrease of disease activity was observed after 6 months of tocilizumab therapy: decrease of median NIH scale (3 [3-4] at baseline, versus 1 [0-2] after 6 months; p <0.001), ITAS-2010 score (5 [2-7] versus 3 [0-8]; p = 0.002), and ITAS-A score (7 [4-10] versus 4 [1-15]; p = 0.0001)]. During the 12 months follow-up after tocilizumab discontinuation, a relapse occurred among 5 patients (45%) out of 11 in which achieved remission after 6 months of tocilizumab.ConclusionTocilizumab seems an effective steroid sparing therapy in TAK but maintenance therapy is necessary.