POS0272 INTRAVENOUS VERSUS SUBCUTANEOUS TOCILIZUMAB IN A SERIES OF 471 PATIENTS WITH GIANT CELL ARTERITIS

Background Tocilizumab (TCZ) has shown efficacy in large-vessel vasculitis, including Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) (1-3 ). Clinical trials with TCZ GCA was performed intravenous (iv) a phase 2 trial (3 ), and subcutaneous (sc) the 3 GiACTA (4 However, there are no studies comparing IV vs SC TCZ. Objectives To compare of patients according to route administration IV-TCZ SC-TCZ. Methods Multicentre study 471 diagnosed treated They were divided into groups administration: ) IV, b SC. by: ACR criteria, and/or temporal artery biopsy, c imaging techniques. Sustained remission established EULAR definitions (5 Results We studied (mean age, 74±9 years) TCZ, 238 233 SC-TCZ (Table 1). The time between diagnosis onset shorter group. Regarding acute reactants at beginning differences found both groups. There significant sustained or glucocorticoid-sparing effect (Figure Patients on treatment suffered more relevant adverse effects during follow-up. Table 1. Main characteristics tocilizumab (n= 238) (n=233) P Baseline Age(years), mean±SD 73.3±8.7 73.7±9.3 0.63 Sex, female/male (% female) 175/63 (73) 167/66 (72) 0.65 Time from (months), median [IQR] 8 [3-23.5] 5 [2-15] 0.016 ESR, mm 1st hour, 30.5 [12.5-53] 28 [10-56.5] 0.66 CRP, mg/dL, 1.4 [0.5-2.8] [0.4-4] 0.92 Prednisone dose, mg/day, 20 [10-40] [10-36.2] 0.69 Safety after Follow-up, 27 [16-44] 14 [6-26.7] <0.001 Relevant events, n 80 (34) 46 (19) events per 100 patients-year 12.7 15.2 NS Serious infections, 44 (18) 21 (9) 0.44 infections 6.7 7.2 MACEs, (%)/ 1 (0.4) 0 (0) - MACEs 0.1 Malignancies, 4 (1.7) 0.20 Malignancies 0.6 0.3 Abbreviations: CRP: C-reactive protein; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; GCA: giant cell arteritis; IQR: interquartile range; IV: intravenous; MACEs: major cardiovascular events; NS: non significant; SC: subcutaneous; SD: standard deviation Conclusion In GCA, seems equally effective safe regardless References [1]Calderón-Goercke M, et al. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2019; 49: 126-135. PMID: 30655091 [2]Prieto-Peña D, Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 2021; 13: 1759720X211020917. 34211589 [3]Villiger PM, Lancet. 2016; 387:1921-1927. 26952547 [4]Stone JH, N Engl J Med. 2017; 377:317-328. 28745999 Hellmich B, Ann Rheum 2020; 79: 19-30. 31270110 Disclosure Interests None declared