Efficacy of tocilizumab, a humanized anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, in rheumatoid arthritis

Evaluation of: Smolen JS, Beaulieu A, Rubbert-Roth A et al.; OPTION Investigators: Effect of interleukin-6 receptor inhibition with tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoidarthritis (OPTION study): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial. Lancet 371, 987–997 (2008). Evidence accumulated suggests a major role of for IL-6 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Several clinical trials have demonstrated that IL-6 signaling blockade with an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody (tocilizumab) is clinically effective in treating patients with RA. In this study, Smolen et al. report the results of a randomized, double-blind, controlled study that assessed the efficacy of tocilizumab in combination with methotrexate. Active RA patients who were refractory to methotrexate treatment were treated with 8 or 4 mg/kg of tocilizumab, or placebo, intravenously every 4 weeks in combination with methotrexate. At 24 weeks, a 20% improvement of signs and symptoms of RA according to the American College of Rheumat...