Trial reportThe British journal of ophthalmology2010
Pegaptanib sodium as maintenance therapy in neovascular age-related macular degeneration: the LEVEL study.
Trial report in The British journal of ophthalmology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent advances in treating age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy: Current therapies and emerging novel approaches.GeroScience · 2026Review
- The 20th Anniversary of Pegaptanib (MacugenTM), the First Approved Aptamer Medicine: History, Recent Advances and Future Prospects of Aptamers in Therapy.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Precision Oncology: Advances in Drug Delivery and Imaging.Recent advances in drug delivery and formulation · 2025Review
- Development and classification of RNA aptamers for therapeutic purposes: an updated review with emphasis on cancer.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2023Review
- Aptamer: A potential oligonucleotide nanomedicine in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.Oncotarget · 2018Review
- RNA therapeutics: RNAi and antisense mechanisms and clinical applications.Postdoc journal : a journal of postdoctoral research and postdoctoral affairs · 2016Article
- Fit for the Eye: Aptamers in Ocular Disorders.Nucleic acid therapeutics · 2016Review
- Molecular Selection, Modification and Development of Therapeutic Oligonucleotide Aptamers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2016Review
- Long-term outcome of intravitreal pegaptanib sodium as maintenance therapy in Japanese patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.Japanese journal of ophthalmology · 2015Article
- Influence of anti-VEGF about cardiovascular biomarkers in age related macular degeneration.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2015Article
- Ranibizumab for the treatment of degenerative ocular conditions.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2014Review
- Maintenance therapy with pegaptanib sodium for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: an exploratory study in Japanese patients (LEVEL-J study).Japanese journal of ophthalmology · 2013Article
- Natural history of age-related retinal lesions that precede AMD in mice fed high or low glycemic index diets.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2012Article
- Comparison of the effect between pegaptanib and ranibizumab on exudative age-related macular degeneration with small lesion size.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2012Article
- The expanding role of vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors in ophthalmology.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2012Review
- Anti-VEGF Agents for Ocular Angiogenesis and Vascular Permeability.Journal of ophthalmology · 2012Article
- Bevasiranib for the treatment of wet, age-related macular degeneration.Ophthalmology and eye diseases · 2010Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo assess the efficacy of pegaptanib as maintenance therapy in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NV-AMD) patients after induction therapy.
methodsA phase IV, prospective, open-label, uncontrolled exploratory study including subjects with subfoveal NV-AMD who had had one to three induction treatments 30-120 days before entry and showed investigator-determined clinical/anatomical NV-AMD improvement. Lesions in the study eye were: any subtype, 12 or fewer disc areas; postinduction centre point thickness (CPT) 275 μm or less or thinning of 100 μm or more (optical coherence tomography); visual acuity (VA) 20/20-20/400. Intravitreal pegaptanib 0.3 mg was administered as maintenance every 6 weeks for 48 weeks with follow-up to week 54. Booster treatment additional unscheduled treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, was allowed in the study eye at the investigators' discretion for clinical deterioration.
resultsOf 568 enrolled subjects, 86% completed 1 year of pegaptanib. Mean VA improvement during induction (49.6 to 65.5 letters) was well preserved (54-week mean 61.8 letters). Mean CPT was relatively stable during maintenance (20 μm increase during the study). Fifty per cent did not receive unscheduled booster treatment to week 54; 46% did have one such booster (mean 147 days after maintenance initiation).
conclusionsAn induction-maintenance strategy, using non-selective then selective vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors, could be considered for NV-AMD. This approach may have particular relevance for patients with systemic comorbidities who require long-term anti-VEGF therapy for NV-AMD.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.