Comparison Between Rituximab Treatment and General Corticotherapy Treatment in Patients With Pemphigus
Summary
Pemphigus is a severe and sometimes life-threatening disease with a mortality rate between 5 and 10 percent depending on the severity of disease and age of patients. The standard of care is high doses of corticosteroids (CS) (usually, prednisone, 1 to 1.5. mg/kg/day, which are often associated with immunosuppressive drugs i.e., azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, although only one randomised study has demonstrated the superiority of the combination of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs as compared to corticosteroids alone (9). Because of the low frequency of the disease, control trials are difficult to conduct. Evaluation of the different treatment regimens proposed, i;e; corticosteroids alone, CS and immunosuppressive drugs, IV immunoglobulins or new therapeutic regimens such as rituximab (an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody directed against B- lymphocytes) or immunoadsorbtion.
Timeline
- Start
- 2009-07
- Primary completion
- 2013-12
- Completion
- 2016-12
Outcome
Met primary endpoint
paper At month 24, 41 (89%) of 46 patients assigned to rituximab plus short-term prednisone were in complete remission off-therapy versus 15 (34%) PMID 28342637 ↗
paper absolute difference 55 percentage points, 95% CI 38·4-71·7; p<0·0001. PMID 28342637 ↗
Publications
- Mignard C, Maho-Vaillant M, Golinski ML, Balaye P, Prost-Squarcioni C, Houivet E, Calbo SB, Labeille B, Picard-Dahan C, Konstantinou MP, Chaby G, Richard MA, Bouaziz JD, Duvert-Lehembre S, Delaporte E, Bernard P, Caux F, Alexandre M, Ingen-Housz-Oro S, Vabres P, Quereux G, Dupuy A, Debarbieux S, Avenel-Audran M, D'Incan M, Bedane C, Beneton N, Jullien D, Dupin N, Misery L, Machet L, Beylot-Barry M, Dereure O, Sassolas B, Benichou J, Joly P, Hebert V; French Study Group on Autoimmune Bullous Skin Diseases. Factors Associated With Short-term Relapse in Patients With Pemphigus Who Receive Rituximab as First-line Therapy: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Dermatol. 2020 May 1;156(5):545-552. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2020.0290.
- Joly P, Maho-Vaillant M, Prost-Squarcioni C, Hebert V, Houivet E, Calbo S, Caillot F, Golinski ML, Labeille B, Picard-Dahan C, Paul C, Richard MA, Bouaziz JD, Duvert-Lehembre S, Bernard P, Caux F, Alexandre M, Ingen-Housz-Oro S, Vabres P, Delaporte E, Quereux G, Dupuy A, Debarbieux S, Avenel-Audran M, D'Incan M, Bedane C, Beneton N, Jullien D, Dupin N, Misery L, Machet L, Beylot-Barry M, Dereure O, Sassolas B, Vermeulin T, Benichou J, Musette P; French study group on autoimmune bullous skin diseases. First-line rituximab combined with short-term prednisone versus prednisone alone for the treatment of pemphigus (Ritux 3): a prospective, multicentre, parallel-group, open-label randomised trial. Lancet. 2017 May 20;389(10083):2031-2040. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30070-3. Epub 2017 Mar 22.
Drugs
| Evaluation | Drug | Modality | Dose | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Rituximab | Monoclonal antibody | 500 mg | Intravenous |