THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF RITUXIMAB IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: NEW EVIDENCE
Open Access
- 29 September 2017
- journal article
- Published by Mediar Press in Rheumatology Science and Practice
- Vol. 55 (4), 420-428
- https://doi.org/10.14412/1995-4484-2017-420-428
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease characterized by chronic erosive arthritis (synovitis) and a systemic inflammatory lesion of the internal organs, which results in early disability and worse quality of life in patients. The accumulated data on the efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness of anti-B cell therapy allow identification of rituximab (RTM) as an extremely important drug of first- or second-line therapy with biological agents after ineffective treatment with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitors. In this connection, the choice of a personalized treatment regimen remains relevant in each specific case as before. Clinical experience with RTM suggests that the drug is highly effective in improving both clinical manifestations and quality of life in patients with active RA that is characterized by resistance to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and TNF-α inhibitors, as well as in those with early RA. The current literature presents a large amount of data on the role of prior therapy and the impact of the stage of RA when using different RTM doses on its efficiency, some of which will be discussed in this review.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- Rituximab for Rheumatoid ArthritisRheumatology and Therapy, 2015
- Reduced-dose rituximab in rheumatoid arthritis: Efficacy depends on degree of B cell depletionArthritis & Rheumatism, 2010
- PHARMACOTHERAPY FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IN THE 21st CENTURY: FOCUS ON RITUXIMABModern Rheumatology Journal, 2009
- Rituximab therapy reduces activated B cells in both the peripheral blood and bone marrow of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: depletion of memory B cells correlates with clinical responseArthritis Research & Therapy, 2009
- Synovial tissue response to rituximab: mechanism of action and identification of biomarkers of responseAnnals Of The Rheumatic Diseases, 2007
- New therapies for treatment of rheumatoid arthritisThe Lancet, 2007
- Bone marrow B-lineage cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis following rituximab therapyRheumatology, 2007
- Regeneration of B cell subsets after transient B cell depletion using anti‐CD20 antibodies in rheumatoid arthritisArthritis & Rheumatism, 2006
- Rituximab, an Anti-CD20 Monoclonal Antibody: History and Mechanism of ActionAmerican Journal of Transplantation, 2006
- Efficacy of B-Cell–Targeted Therapy with Rituximab in Patients with Rheumatoid ArthritisThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2004