Could we use a lower dose of rituximab to treat rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice: pros and cons?

Gianfranco Ferraccioli, Barbara Tolusso, Elisa Gremese

Abstract readEditorial

In one paragraph

Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Gianfranco FerraccioliInstitute of Rheumatology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, CIC-Via Moscati 31, Rome, 00168, Italy. gianfranco.ferraccioli@unicatt.it.

Barbara TolussoInstitute of Rheumatology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, CIC-Via Moscati 31, Rome, 00168, Italy.

Elisa GremeseInstitute of Rheumatology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, CIC-Via Moscati 31, Rome, 00168, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The CERERRA database provides evidence that low-dose rituximab performs as well as the conventional dose in the real world, thus highlighting the possible pharmacoeconomic impact. In clinical trials, it has been shown that rituximab 500 mg twice, performs as well as 1 g twice, 2 weeks apart, in terms of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)20 and ACR50, but not the ACR70. The choice should always be made after considering that the IMAGE trial has demonstrated similar radiographic progression after the first 6 months, but with less control, with low-dose rituximab in the first 6 months. A possible alternative can be hypothesized.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidClinical Trials as TopicHumansRituximabTreatment OutcomeAntirheumatic AgentsRituximabHigh doseLow dosePeripheral B cell depletionRituximabSynovial tissue B cell depletion

Identifiers

PMID27255529

DOI10.1186/s13075-016-1022-1

PMCPMC4890326

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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.