ArticleRMD open2018
Comparative effectiveness of subcutaneous tocilizumab versus intravenous tocilizumab in a pan-European collaboration of registries.
Article in RMD open, 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 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patient-reported preferences for subcutaneous or intravenous administration of parenteral drug treatments in adults with immune disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2024Pooled it
- Self-administration of rozanolixizumab via manual push and infusion pump methods in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis: a randomised, phase 3, open-label, crossover study.Journal of neurology · 2025Trial
- Comparative effectiveness of subcutaneous sarilumab 200 mg biweekly, subcutaneous Tocilizumab 162 mg biweekly, and intravenous Tocilizumab 8 mg/kg every 4 weeks in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective cohort study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Article
- Association between body weight and tocilizumab effectiveness in rheumatoid arthritis: results from the BSRBR-RA.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- A Challenging Case of MOG-Associated Optic Neuritis: The Role of IL-6 Inhibition in Refractory Disease.International medical case reports journal · 2025Article
- A Population Pharmacokinetic Model of Tocilizumab in Kidney Transplant Patients Treated for Chronic Active Antibody-Mediated Rejection: Comparison of Plasma Exposure Between Intravenous and Subcutaneous Administration Schemes.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2024Article
- Observational
- Retention of subcutaneous abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: real-world results from the ASCORE study: an international 2-year observational study.Clinical rheumatology · 2022Observational
- Concomitant beta-blocker use is associated with a reduced rate of remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs: aTherapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2021Article
- Patient Preferences for Subcutaneous versus Intravenous Administration of Treatment for Chronic Immune System Disorders: A Systematic Review.Patient preference and adherence · 2021Review
- Use of subcutaneous tocilizumab to prepare intravenous solutions for COVID-19 emergency shortage: Comparative analytical study of physicochemical quality attributes.Journal of pharmaceutical analysis · 2020Article
- Subcutaneous Sarilumab in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis who Previously Received Subcutaneous Sarilumab or Intravenous Tocilizumab: An Open-Label Extension of a Randomized Clinical Trial.ACR open rheumatology · 2020Article
- Early use of low dose tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study with a complete follow-up.EClinicalMedicine · 2020Article
- Subcutaneous tocilizumab for active thyroid eye disease refractory to orbital radiation and systemic steroids in tobacco smokers.Taiwan journal of ophthalmologyArticle
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the real-word effectiveness of subcutaneous tocilizumab (TCZ-SC) and intravenous tocilizumab (TCZ-IV) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
methodsPatients with RA with TCZ from eight European registries were included. Drug retention was compared using unadjusted Kaplan-Meier and Cox models adjusted for baseline patient, disease and treatment characteristics, using a strata term for year of treatment initiation and country of registry. The proportions of patients achieving Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) remission and low disease activity (LDA) at 1 year were compared using samples matched on the same covariates and corrected for attrition using LUNDEX.
results3448 patients were retrieved, 2414 with TCZ-IV and 1034 with TCZ-SC. Crude median retention was 3.52 years (95% CI 3.22 to 3.85) for TCZ-IV and 2.12 years for TCZ-SC (95% CI 1.88 to 2.38). In a country-stratified and year of treatment initiation-stratified, covariate-adjusted analysis, hazards of discontinuation were similar between TCZ-SC and TCZ-IV treated patients (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.09). The average adjusted CDAI change at 1 year was similar in both groups (-6.08). After matching, with 560 patients in each group, CDAI remission corrected for attrition at 1 year was also similar between TCZ-SC and TCZ-IV (10.4% in TCZ-IV vs 12.8% in TCZ-SC (difference: 2.4%, bootstrap 95% CI -2.1% to 7.6%)), but CDAI LDA was lower in TCZ-IV patients: 41.0% in TCZ-IV versus 49.1% in TCZ-SC (difference: 8.0 %; bootstrap 95% CI 2.4% to 12.4%).
conclusionWith similar retention and effectiveness, TCZ-SC is an adequate alternative to TCZ-IV for RA. When possible, considering the costs of the TCZ-IV route, TCZ-SC should be the preferred mode of administration.
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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.