Trial reportRheumatology (Oxford, England)2025
Efficacy of tocilizumab monotherapy after ultrashort glucocorticoid administration to treat giant cell arteritis: three-year follow-up.
Trial report in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- Glucocorticoids combined with anticoagulation modulate the central NLRP3/NETosis inflammatory process in patients with severe cerebral venous thrombosis: a human mechanistic exploratory study.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2026Article
- Methylprednisolone pulses are associated with faster remission in Giant Cell Arteritis: a multicentre inception cohort study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe GUSTO [GCA treatment with Ultra-Short glucocorticoids (GC) and TOcilizumab] trial was set up to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 52-week tocilizumab (TCZ) monotherapy after a 3-day GC-pulse in new-onset GCA. The presented data show the maintenance effect of the GUSTO protocol over 3 years and the effectiveness or retreatment with TCZ after relapse.
methodsEighteen patients with newly diagnosed GCA received 500 mg methylprednisolone i.v. for three consecutive days followed by TCZ monotherapy from day 3 until week 52 in a single-arm, single-centre, open-label clinical trial. Patients in clinical remission stopped TCZ at week 52. Maintenance of efficacy included the proportion of patients with complete lasting remission of disease at week 208.
resultsMedian age was 72 (interquartile range 67-75) years at inclusion and 15/18 patients complained of cranial symptoms. At week 52, 13/18 patients were in relapse-free remission and entered the follow-up study. Minor relapses were observed in 2/13 patients at weeks 72, 187 and 200. In both patients, remission was achieved after restart of TCZ monotherapy. At week 208, 11/18 patients stayed in relapse-free remission; 11/13 patients remained in drug-free remission for 156 weeks.
conclusionDrug-free remission was maintained in all but two patients entering long-term extension. This relapse rate is substantially lower than reported in the randomized controlled trials. Patient characteristics (exclusively new diagnoses), and the intensive initial treatment may explain the lasting remission.
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