ArticleJournal of neurovirology2018
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in rituximab-treated rheumatic diseases: a rare event.
Article in Journal of neurovirology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 59 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
59 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines for diagnosis and management of autoimmune hepatitis.Gut · 2025Guideline
- Rituximab for people with multiple sclerosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Rituximab for people with multiple sclerosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Clinical immunogenicity in rAAV gene therapy: Insights and implications.Molecular therapy. Advances · 2026Review
- Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus and other autoimmune diseases: a literature review.Journal of rheumatic diseases · 2026Review
- Use of MRI in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease - MAGNIMS consensus recommendations.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Infection prophylaxis following anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in childhood kidney diseases.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Review
- B Cells and B Cell Depletion in Autoimmunity and Atherosclerosis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Roads and detours for CAR T cell therapy in autoimmune diseases.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2026Review
- Frontiers in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Emerging Research and Unmet Needs in Pharmacologic Management.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of Rituximab in rElapsiNg Multiple SclErosis previously treated with hiGhly-Active Disease modifying thErapies (RENEGADE study).Journal of neurology · 2025Observational
- Live long and persist: polyomavirus immune evasion in the brain and kidney.Future virology · 2025Article
- Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in rheumatoid arthritis and biological therapies: a case report and review of the literature.Journal of medical case reports · 2025Review
- Patient-Centric Approach for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease in Older People.Drugs & aging · 2025Review
- Association of rituximab use with adverse events in adults with lymphoma or autoimmune disease: a single center experience.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- John Cunningham Virus and Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy: A Falsely Played Diagnosis.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Long-term surveillance study of rituximab originator treated patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA).Rheumatology advances in practice · 2024Article
- Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy reports in rheumatoid arthritis concerning different treatment patterns-an exploratory assessment using the food and drug administration adverse event reporting system.Frontiers in drug safety and regulation · 2024Article
- Secondary immunodeficiencies and infectious considerations of biologic immunomodulatory therapies.Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology · 2023Review
- Review of an Anti-CD20 Monoclonal Antibody for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases of the Skin.American journal of clinical dermatology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This report assesses the observed risk of PML in patients treated with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab in the regulatory authority-approved autoimmune indications rheumatoid arthritis (RA), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). This was a cumulative analysis of confirmed PML cases in patients receiving rituximab for RA or GPA/MPA from both spontaneous reports and clinical trial sources, as captured in the manufacturer global company safety and clinical databases. Overall reporting rates were calculated and patient case details were summarized. As of 17 November 2015, there were nine confirmed PML cases among patients who had received rituximab for RA and two for GPA. Corresponding estimated reporting rates were 2.56 per 100,000 patients with RA (estimated exposure ≈ 351,396 patients) and < 1 per 10,000 patients with GPA/MPA (estimated exposure 40,000-50,000 patients). In all cases, patients had ≥ 1 potential risk factor for PML independent of rituximab treatment. In the RA population, the estimated reporting rate of PML generally remained stable and low since 2009 despite increasing rituximab exposure. There was no pattern of latency from time of rituximab initiation to PML development and no association of PML with the number of rituximab courses. Global post-marketing safety and clinical trial data demonstrated that the occurrence of PML is very rare among rituximab-treated patients with RA or GPA/MPA and has remained stable over time.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.