Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40078463›Full record

ArticleTherapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease2025

Tofacitinib in early active axial spondyloarthritis: protocol of a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter phase IV study, FASTLANE.

Valeria Rios Rodriguez, Lidia Sánchez-Riera, Hildrun Haibel, Caroline Höppner, Murat Torgutalp, Fabian Proft, Judith Rademacher, Elke Binder, Annette Diehl, Ivana Vranic and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

14 authors.

Valeria Rios RodriguezDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, Berlin 12203, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5612-043X
Lidia Sánchez-RieraPfizer SLU, Madrid, Spain.
Hildrun HaibelDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5180-1831
Caroline HöppnerDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Murat TorgutalpDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4600-9484
Fabian ProftDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4306-033X
Judith RademacherDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7442-2570
Elke BinderPfizer SLU, Madrid, Spain.
Annette DiehlPfizer Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
Ivana VranicPfizer Inc., Tadworth, UK.
Yuxi ZhaoPfizer Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
Rajiv MundayatPfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA.
Arne YndestadPfizer Inc., Oslo, Norway.
Denis PoddubnyyDepartment of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology (including Nutrition Medicine), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Early treatment initiation is one of the strongest predictors of good treatment response in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Recently, the Assessment in SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) defined early axSpA as a diagnosis of axSpA with a duration of axial symptoms equal to or less than 2 years. Tofacitinib is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. Objectives: Compare the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib versus placebo (both on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) background) in patients with active early axSpA and inadequate response to at least one NSAID. Design: This is a phase IV, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial. Methods and analysis: The study will recruit 104 patients aged ⩾18 and ⩽45 years with active early axSpA (chronic back pain ⩽2 years), inadequate response to at least one NSAID, and objective signs of active inflammation (on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of sacroiliac joints (SIJs) or elevated C-reactive protein). Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive tofacitinib 5 mg twice daily or placebo, with background naproxen 500 mg twice daily for 16 weeks. Patients not meeting early treatment response criteria at week 4 will receive open-label tofacitinib until week 16. Primary and key secondary endpoints at week 16 will be the proportion of patients achieving disease remission (Axial Spondyloarthritis Disease Activity Score <1.3) and change from baseline in MRI SIJ Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada osteitis score, respectively. Safety will be monitored up to 4 weeks after the last study drug dose. Ethics: The study will be performed according to the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and will be approved by independent ethics committees of each center. Discussion: This is one of the first randomized clinical trials designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a JAK inhibitor in the recently ASAS-defined "early" axSpA population.

Indexed as

axial spondyloarthritisclinical trialmagnetic resonance imagingtofacitinibtreatment

Identifiers

PMID40078463
PMCPMC11898075

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.