Observational studyRMD open2022
Effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab in patients with systemic sclerosis: a propensity score matched controlled observational study of the EUSTAR cohort.
Observational study in RMD open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 4 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- ERS/EULAR clinical practice guidelines for connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease.The European respiratory journal · 2026Guideline
- 2023 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Guideline for the Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease in People with Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases.Arthritis care & research · 2024Guideline
- 2023 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Guideline for the Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease in People with Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Guideline
- Pooled it
- [Survey of care situation for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis with pulmonary involvement in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2026Article
- Impact of Evolving Treatment Patterns on Interstitial Lung Disease Progression in Systemic Sclerosis Using the European Scleroderma Trials and Research Database.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Review
- Safety and effectiveness of tocilizumab in systemic sclerosis: a multicentre French-Italian study.RMD open · 2026Article
- Tocilizumab and Rituximab in Systemic Sclerosis: A Real-Life Retrospective Observational Study Across Different Clinical Phenotypes.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Anifrolumab-A Potential New Systemic Sclerosis Treatment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Tocilizumab and rituximab for systemic sclerosis interstitial lung disease: a real-world cohort analysis.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Arrhythmias in Systemic Sclerosis: A Call for Interdisciplinarity Teams.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Coexistence of Localized and Systemic Juvenile Scleroderma: A Case Report and Review of Literature.Clinical case reports · 2025Article
- Treatment of Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Archives of rheumatology · 2025Article
- Connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease: a rheumatologist's perspective.Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2025Review
- Korean Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Interstitial Lung Diseases: Connective Tissue Disease Associated Interstitial Lung Disease.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2025Article
- CD45+/ Col I+ Fibrocytes: Major source of collagen in the fibrotic lung, but not in passaged fibroblast cultures.Matrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology · 2025Article
- Tocilizumab plus Nintedanib for progressive interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis: a one-year observational study.Rheumatology international · 2024Observational
- Untangling the relationship between smoking and systemic sclerosis: an analysis of the EUSTAR cohort.RMD open · 2024Article
- Associations of the circulating levels of cytokines with risk of systemic sclerosis: a bidirectional Mendelian randomized study.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
40 authors at 20 institutions in 18 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTocilizumab showed trends for improving skin fibrosis and prevented progression of lung fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) in randomised controlled clinical trials. We aimed to assess safety and effectiveness of tocilizumab in a real-life setting using the European Scleroderma Trial and Research (EUSTAR) database.
methodsPatients with SSc fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/EULAR 2013 classification criteria, with baseline and follow-up visits at 12±3 months, receiving tocilizumab or standard of care as the control group, were selected. Propensity score matching was applied. Primary endpoints were the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and FVC at 12±3 months compared between the groups. Secondary endpoints were the percentage of progressive/regressive patients for skin and lung at 12±3 months.
resultsNinety-three patients with SSc treated with tocilizumab and 3180 patients with SSc with standard of care fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Comparison between groups did not show significant differences, but favoured tocilizumab across all predefined primary and secondary endpoints: mRSS was lower in the tocilizumab group (difference -1.0, 95% CI -3.7 to 1.8, p=0.48). Similarly, FVC % predicted was higher in the tocilizumab group (difference 1.5 (-6.1 to 9.1), p=0.70). The percentage of progressive/regressive patients favoured tocilizumab over controls. These results were robust regarding the sensitivity analyses. Safety analysis confirmed previously reported adverse event profiles.
conclusionAlthough this large, observational, controlled, real-life EUSTAR study did not show significant effectiveness of tocilizumab on skin and lung fibrosis, the consistency of direction of all predefined endpoints generates hypothesis for potential effectiveness in a broader SSc population.
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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.