Faculty Bibliography

Background The magnitude of the association of cancer with rheumatoid arthritis, especially after anti-TNF use, remains in dispute. We recently proposed (1) an important selection bias was potentially inherent in the registry data especially when the comparator for the sought cancer incidence in RA was the cancer incidence in the "mother population", the population from which the registry is derived from. In a mother population within a given time there would be many patients with cancer who would not have the chance to develop RA since a. a sizeable fraction would die from their disease before having the chance to develop RA; b. The cancer treatment could potentially prevent the development of RA or finally, and particularly in the case of anti-TNF registries, c. If they remained alive and developed cancer the likelihood of them being included in such a registry would be small. All 3 factors could render the incidence ratio (incidence in the registry/incidence in the mother population) less than unity even if biologically there are no real differences in the cancer frequencies between the 2 populations. Lastly this ratio would decrease in time as was observed in the Taiwan registry (1). Objectives We formally surveyed whether the same potential selection bias was present in other manuscripts reporting similar data. Methods We conducted a PubMed search with the search terms "registry" "cancer" and "rheumatoid arthritis" among 7 high-impact rheumatology journals between 2001 and May-2011 (inclusive). First, articles that reported cancer incidence in patients with RA were retrieved in full-text. Among these, those manuscripts which reported an incidence ratio at 2 or more time-points were included in this survey. We specifically sought a. whether the comparisons were made between the registry and a "mother population" and b. the changes in the above described ratio between the first and last time points. Results We retrieved 36 articles among 1274 search results. In 6/36 the incidence ratio compa!

Background Behcet's syndrome (BS) is a systemic vasculitis that may different pathogenic mechanisms leading to different manifestations, such as eye, mucocutaneous and GI disease. We started a dedicated Behcet's clinic in 2004 and have treated over 850 patients to date. Objectives To determine the response to therapy depending on type of organ involvement and documentation of improvement with patient reported outcomes. Methods All patients seen at the Center complete MDHAQ, medical history, medication use, Behcet's specific history, ethnic and demographic information forms. In addition a Behcet Syndrome Activity Score (BSAS) is also completed by all Behcet patients. These data are prospectively collected and updated each visit. Patients were divided into eye disease only, GI only, both or none groups and compared for disease activity and medication, specifically azathioprine, use. They could have mucocutaneous disease in addition to above manifestations Results 484 patients (78% female, disease duration 4.8 (7.1) years, age 35.3 (13.8)) were analyzed. 244 patients had no eye or GI disease, 83 had eye, 111 GI and 46 both eye and GI involvement. Both groups of azathioprine treated and untreated patients showed improvement in their disease activity scores but the improvement were more pronounced for GI disease by BSAS. RAPID3 responses were more in the azathioprine treated group with eye and both eye and GI disease. Patients with no eye or GI disease did similarly with or without azathioprine. (Table presented) Conclusions In this cohort of 484 Behcet patients, some treatment response differences were noted between patients with eye or GI involvement vs those who did not have these. Overall, azathioprine, led to better outcomes regardless of organ involvement. It was possible to demonstrate these improvements using patient reported outcomes, RAPID3 and BSAS, as part of routine clinical care

Background With the availability of multiple biologic agents, with different modes of action, and no head to head trials, it is of use to examine comparative effectiveness of these agents in real world registries to inform physicians how they might be used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Objectives To compare time to response and efficacy among biologic agents. Methods Usage of the biologic medications abatacept, adalimumab, etanercept,infliximab and rituximab along with self-reported disease activity and clinic measures were abstracted from ARMD registry at NYU. Time to first response defined as an improvement in RAPID3 of at least 3.6 was calculated; change from biologic medication initiation to first response for self-reported disease activity and clinic measures was estimated. Differences in time to first response between biologic medications were estimated using Cox proportional hazards model. Results 4299 encounteres were reviewed for this analysis. A total of 526 treatment courses were determined. 406 of 526 courses represent the first biologic medication used by an individual; 88 individuals used two biologic medications at different times, while 26 had used three biologics, and 6 had used 4. Abatacept had more patients achieve response (66%) characterized by a reduction in RAPID of 3.6 points or greater than adalimumab (63%), etanercept (61%), infliximab (43%), rituximab (41%) although this difference was not statistically siginficant. Increased age and increased duration of disease were associated with decreased likelihood of achieving a RAPID3 reponse. Time to reponse in the first 6 months after treatment was not significantly different among any of the biologics Conclusions No differences in efficacy and time to response among adalimumab, abatacept, etanercept, infliximab or rituximab in the first 6 months after RA treatment was initiated were noted. With no difference in clinical outcomes, most treatment decisions may be based on ease of use and safety data of respective!

Background Real world applicability of "treat to target" approaches can only be assessed by routine care registries with different patient population and drug use. This also allows comparing RA treatment across different countries and provides insights previously not recognized. TRAV (Turkish acronym for "Turkish Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry") was established in 2010 with the aim of collecting data on RA patients seen in routine care in Turkey, the first consecutive patients database to do so. Objectives To describe the current treatment paradigm and response to treatment among RA patients in Turkey and compare to a US cohort. Methods Consecutive patients seen at participating centers complete at each visit a MDHAQ which includes scales for physical function, pain, and patient global. Physicians complete global assessment VAS, in addition to tender and swollen joint counts. RAPID3 (routine assessment of patient index data), DAS28 and CDAI are calculated. Demographics, self-reported disease activity measures, clinic data and medication usage were abstracted from the last visit of individuals with RA seen at three Turkish sites. Differences in measures from Turkey (TR) and an academic US site where similar data collection has been part of routine care were compared for status of biologic medication usage at last visit, abstracted from the same calendar treatment period. Significant differences in measures were determined using the Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous and ordinal measures and Chi-square test for categorical measures. Results 899 RA patients in TR and 396 in the US were analyzed. There were significant differences between TR and US patients for years of education (TR=6.9 yr, US=14.5 yr) and disease duration (TR=14 yr, US=7.3 yr). Mean disease activity as measured by RAPID3 were similar between the sites (TR=10.5, US=11.2), with similar percentages of patients in remission, LDAS, moderate and high disease activity (TR=21%, 13%, 25%, 41%, and US=19%, 11%, 24%, 46%, respectively) at la!

Background The correlation of components of composite activity scores among different patient populations may provide insights into universal applicability and use of disease activity indices. TRAV (Turkish acronym for "Turkish Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry") was established in 2010 with the aim of collecting data on RA. patients seen in routine care in Turkey, the first consecutive patients database to do so. Objectives To compare the correlation of components of composite indices in different RA cohorts from Turkey and US. Methods Consecutive patients seen at participating centers complete at each visit a MDHAQ which includes scales for physical function, pain, and patient global. Physicians complete global assessment VAS, in addition to tender and swollen joint counts. RAPID3 (routine assessment of patient index data), DAS28 and CDAI are calculated. Demographics, self-reported disease activity measures (Pt global), clinical data and medication usage were abstracted from the last visit of individuals with RA seen at Turkish (TR) sites these were compared with patients seen at a US routine care setting, where data have been collected since 2001 on all patients. Patients seen during the same period were used in this comparison. Agreement analysis of physician and patient-reported clinical outcomes were done. Significant differences in measures were determined using the Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous and ordinal measures and Chi-square test for categorical measures. Results 424 TR and 176 US patients were studied. Correlation between MD and Pt global, MD global and pain, DAS28 and RAPID3, MD swollen and tender joint count and Pt self report RADAI joint count are shown in the Table. All measures had similar correlations between US and TR RA patients except MD global and Pt global assessments where US measures showed more correlation than TR patients and physicians. The correlation between patient tender joint count and physicians tender joint count were stronger than swollen joint counts but !

Background CDAI (clinical disease activity index) and RAPID3 (routine assessment of patient index data 3) cut points defining responses that best match ACR20/50/70 response in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (pts), are unknown. Objectives To evaluate cut points in a study population treated with certolizumab pegol (CZP) plus methotrexate (MTX).1 Methods ACR responders through Week (Wk) 12 from 393 CZP treated pts (400 mg at Wks 0, 2 and 4 then 200 mg every 2 Wks) plus MTX in RAPID 1 (NCT00152386) were categorized by proposed response (R) cut points in CDAI (change from baseline [CFB] >6.7, >10.0, >13.9) and RAPID3 (CFB >1.8, >3.6). ACR20/50/70 responses were compared with proposed categorizations using cross-tabulations, AUC under the ROC curve (AUC-ROC), % correctly classified (%CC) pts and kappa statistics. CART2 (classification and regression trees) modeling identified CDAI and RAPID3 cut points defining responses most closely associated with ACR20/50/70 responses. Results Sensitivities were very high; at Wk 12, 93-100% ACR20/50/70 responders achieved CFB in CDAI (>6.7,>10.0,>13.9). Positive predictive value [PPV] was lower indicating CDAI-R is not as strongly associated with ACR-R as ACR-R is with CDAI-R; lower specificities indicate that ACR nonresponse (NR) does not correspond well to CDAI-NR (particularly for ACR50/70). However, CDAI-NR predicts well ACR-NR (very high negative predictive value [NPV]) (Table). CFB in CDAI>13.9 was most closely associated with ACR20-R (=0.57). Association between proposed CDAI categorizations and ACR50/70 was weak (=0.05-0.29). A similar trend was observed for RAPID3. CART modeling identified CFB in CDAI >13.80/>20.15/>20.15 and CFB in RAPID3 >5.46/>7.28/>5.53 as categorizations most closely associated with ACR20/50/70 responses. Conclusions CDAI and RAPID3 CFB thresholds were identified that defined the closest associations with ACR responses in pts with inadequate response to MTX and high disease activity at baseline (mean DAS28 6.9). Sensitivities/NP!