ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

Abstract Number: 695

Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Persistence and Reasons for Discontinuation in US Veterans with Axial Spondyloarthritis

Delamo Bekele1, Elizabeth Cheng2, Christian Geier3,4, Kavya Ganuthula5, Jessica Walsh6,7, Maureen Dubreuil8,9, Daniel O. Clegg10, Prashant Kaushik11, Bernard Ng12,13,14,15, Elizabeth Chang16, Andreas Reimold17,18, Siba P. Raychaudhuri19, Ryan Duong20, Kristine A Kuhn21, Yujin Park22 and Gail S. Kerr23, 1Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 2Rheumatology, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, 3Rheumatology, Columbia University- NYP Hospital, New York, NY, 4Columbia University, New York, NY, 5Internal Medicine, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Aurora, CO, 6Rheumatology Section, Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs, Salt Lake City, UT, 7Division of Rheumatology, Salt Lake City Veteran Affairs and University of Utah Medical Centers, Salt Lake City, UT, 8Rheumatology, VA Boston Healthcare System & Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 9Rheumatology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 10Division of Rheumatology, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, 11Rheumatology/Medicine, Stratton VAMC, Albany, NY, 12Rheumatology, Seattle VAMC, Seattle, WA, 13Rheumatology, VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle, WA, 14Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, Houston, TX, 15Division of Rheumatology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 16Rheumatology, Phoenix VAHCS, Phoenix, AZ, 17Rheumatology, Dallas VAMC, Dallas, TX, 18Rheumatology, Dallas VA Medical Center and University of Texas - Southwestern, Dallas, TX, 19Rheumatology, Sacramento VAMC, Mather, CA, 20Rheumatology, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center and UC Denver SOM, Denver, CO, 21Division of Rheumatology, Rocky Mountain Regional Veterans Affairs Medical Center/University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 22Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ, 23Rheumatology, Washington DC VAMC, Georgetown and Howard University, Washington, DC

Meeting: 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords:

Session Information

Date: Sunday, October 21, 2018

Session Title: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Clinical Poster I: Imaging, Clinical Studies, and Treatment

Session Type: ACR Poster Session A

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: Although tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) have favorably altered the treatment landscape for patients with axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), permanent therapy is infrequent. Further, the extent to which patients continue individual TNFi agents is uncertain and the reasons for discontinuation of TNFi remain obscure.

Objective: To determine TNFi persistence and reasons for discontinuation in patients with axial spondyloarthritis

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed of US veterans enrolled from 2007 to 2017 in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Program to Understand the Longterm outcomes in SpondyloArthritis Registry (PULSAR), who met ASAS criteria for AxSpA and were treated with TNFi. Enrollment sociodemographic variables, HLA-B27 status, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were collected. Corporate Data Warehouse Pharmacy files provided courses of injectable TNFi agents (etanercept, adalimumab, certolizumab, and golimumab). Individual TNFi persistence was first compared with unadjusted Kaplan-Meier plots, and then multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression applied, including a term for the course sequence (accounting for the order of the TNFi, [STATA]). Reasons for discontinuation (primary non-response [< 6 months TNFi exposure], secondary [>6 months TNFi exposure] loss of efficacy (LOE), adverse event, patient averseness, financial/access, minimal disease, non-adherence) were obtained by physician chart review.

Results: The cohort of 229 patients were of mean age 53.2 years, and mainly white (69%) men (93.8%). HLA-B27 was positive in 73.4%, with mean CRP of 1 [1.4] mg/dl and ESR 17.9 [17.8] mm/hr. Individual TNFi persistence was highest for etanercept (p<0.05), accounting for TNFi sequence. At approximately 3 years, persistence for any TNFi was < 25% (Figure 1). Secondary LOE was the most common reason for discontinuation, accounting for nearly half of all courses. In 20% of instances, primary non-response and adverse events accounted for TNFi discontinuation (Figure 2), while patient risk averseness, non-adherence and drug access were infrequent (<5%) reasons.

Conclusion: Etanercept has the best TNFi persistence among VA AxSpA patients, but discontinuation is common, mainly due to loss of efficacy. The contributing factors for discontinuation, including specific administration guidelines, comorbidities or anti-drug antibodies are potential areas for further inquiry

Disclosure: D. Bekele, None; E. Cheng, None; C. Geier, None; K. Ganuthula, None; J. Walsh, None; M. Dubreuil, None; D. O. Clegg, Janssen, 9; P. Kaushik, None; B. Ng, None; E. Chang, None; A. Reimold, Novartis, Abbvie, 2,Eli Lilly and Co., 5; S. P. Raychaudhuri, None; R. Duong, None; K. A. Kuhn, None; Y. Park, Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, 3; G. S. Kerr, Novartis, 2.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Bekele D, Cheng E, Geier C, Ganuthula K, Walsh J, Dubreuil M, Clegg DO, Kaushik P, Ng B, Chang E, Reimold A, Raychaudhuri SP, Duong R, Kuhn KA, Park Y, Kerr GS. Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Persistence and Reasons for Discontinuation in US Veterans with Axial Spondyloarthritis [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018; 70 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/tumor-necrosis-factor-inhibitor-persistence-and-reasons-for-discontinuation-in-us-veterans-with-axial-spondyloarthritis/. Accessed March 28, 2023.

« Back to 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/tumor-necrosis-factor-inhibitor-persistence-and-reasons-for-discontinuation-in-us-veterans-with-axial-spondyloarthritis/