ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 1401

Utility of CRP and ESR in the Assessment of Giant Cell Arteritis Relapse in a Phase 2 Trial of Mavrilimumab

Sebastian Unizony1, Maria C. Cid2, Daniel Blockmans3, Elisabeth Brouwer4, Lorenzo Dagna5, Bhaskar Dasgupta6, Bernhard Hellmich7, Eamonn Molloy8, Carlo Salvarani9, Bruce Trapnell10, Kenneth Warrington11, Ian Wicks12, Manoj Samant13, Teresa Zhou13, Lara Pupim13 and John F Paolini13, 1Vasculitis and Glomerulonephritis Center, Department of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 2Vasculitis Research Group. Department of Autoimmune Diseases. Hospital Clínic. University of Barcelona, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi I Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain, 3General Internal Medicine, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 4University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, 5Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases (UnIRAR), IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Lombardia, Italy, 6Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Westcliff-on-Sea, United Kingdom, 7Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology, and Immunology, Medius Kliniken, Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany, 8St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, 9Unità Operativa di Reumatologia, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Italy, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 10Translational Pulmonary Science Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, 11Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, 12Walter & Eliza Hall Institute & Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia, 13Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., Lexington, MA

Meeting: ACR Convergence 2021

Keywords: C-reactive protein (CRP), giant cell arteritis

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Session Information

Date: Monday, November 8, 2021

Title: Vasculitis – Non-ANCA-Associated & Related Disorders Poster I: Giant Cell Arteritis & Polymyalgia Rheumatica (1391–1419)

Session Type: Poster Session C

Session Time: 8:30AM-10:30AM

Background/Purpose: Although giant cell arteritis (GCA) relapse is mostly defined by the recurrence of GCA signs/symptoms, in patients treated only with glucocorticoids, the C-reactive protein (CRP) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) help clinicians assess disease activity. Tocilizumab directly inhibits IL-6-driven acute-phase reactant synthesis in the liver rendering ESR and CRP unreliable for monitoring of disease relapse. Mavrilimumab (MAV), a GM-CSF receptor α inhibitor currently under study for GCA,1 downregulates inflammation upstream of IL-6. Therefore, we hypothesized that MAV would not interfere with the utility of CRP and ESR in monitoring disease activity.

In this study we analyzed the relationship between CRP/ESR and clinical disease activity in GCA patients treated with MAV.

Methods: New-onset and relapsing GCA patients with active disease were recruited. Glucocorticoid-induced remission (no GCA symptoms and CRP < 1 mg/dL or ESR < 20 mm/hr) was required by baseline. Patients were randomized 3:2 to MAV 150 mg or placebo (PBO) subcutaneously every 2 weeks (wks) plus a protocol-defined 26-wk prednisone taper. The primary efficacy endpoint was time to relapse by Wk 26. Relapse (adjudicated) was defined as recurrent GCA signs/symptoms, and/or new/worsening vasculitis on imaging and concurrent CRP ≥1 mg/dL and/or ESR ≥30 mm/hr. CRP and ESR were measured periodically during the trial. This post hoc analysis assessed the CRP and ESR levels from randomization through Wk 26 in patients with and without relapse by treatment arm.

Results: A total of 70 patients were enrolled (MAV, N=42; PBO, N=28). Relapses occurred in 8 (19.1%) and 13 (46.4%) patients in the MAV and PBO groups, respectively. Unequivocal GCA symptoms were present in 20/21 patients with relapse. In the patient without unequivocal GCA symptoms, flare was determined based on worsening vasculitis by imaging. CRP or ESR were elevated at the time of relapse in all cases regardless of treatment arm (Table). Among 34 MAV recipients without relapse, 47.1% had at least one elevated ESR and 29.4% had at least one elevated CRP value. Among 15 PBO recipients without relapse, 66.7% had at least one elevated ESR and 73.3% had at least one elevated CRP value. Overall, at least one elevated inflammatory marker (ESR or CRP) measurement was observed in 58.8% and 93.3% of patients receiving MAV and PBO, respectively (nominal p-values: 0.03 for ESR/CRP; < 0.01 for CRP; 0.32 for ESR).

Conclusion: The observed association of CRP and ESR elevation with recurrent GCA signs/symptoms supports the feasibility of a stringent definition of relapse (i.e., characteristic clinical manifestations plus increased inflammatory markers) in GCA clinical trials. The frequency and magnitude of CRP and ESR elevations at relapse were similar in both treatment groups, indicating that CRP and ESR retain their clinical value under GM-CSF blockade therapy. Transient CRP and ESR elevation without relapse, indicating possible subclinical activity, occurred more often in PBO recipients.

References:
1. Cid, Unizony et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020; 72 (suppl 10)

Table: CRP and ESR levels in patients with or without GCA relapse


Disclosures: S. Unizony, Kiniksa, 2, Janssen, 2, Genentech, 5; M. Cid, Kiniksa, 5, 12, meeting attendance support, Janssen, 2, GlaxoSmithKline, 2, 12, educational support, AbbVie, 2, Vifor, 12, educational support, Roche, 12, meeting attendance support; D. Blockmans, None; E. Brouwer, Roche, 2, 6; L. Dagna, AbbVie, 5, 12, personal fees, Amgen, 5, 12, personal fees, BMS, 5, 12, personal fees, Novartis, 5, 12, personal fees, Pfizer, 5, 12, personal fees, Roche, 5, 12, personal fees, Sanofi-Genzyme, 5, 12, personal fees, SOBI, 5, 12, personal fees, Celltrion, 5, 12, personal fees, Galapagos, 5, 12, personal fees, Janssen, 5, Kiniksa, 5, Merck Sharp & Dohme, 5, Biogen, 12, personal fees, GlaxoSmithKline, 12, personal fees; B. Dasgupta, Roche-Chugai, 5, 12, personal fees, Sanofi, 5, 12, personal fees, AbbVie, 5; B. Hellmich, None; E. Molloy, Kiniksa, 12, clinical trial expenses, AbbVie, 5, Janssen, 12, personal fees, Gilead, 12, personal fees, Novartis, 12, personal fees, Merck, 12, personal fees, UCB, 12, personal fees; C. Salvarani, Abbvie, Pfizer, MSD, Novartis, and Eli Lilly, 6; B. Trapnell, Kiniksa, 12, Personal fees as consultant member of DSMB; K. Warrington, Eli Lilly, 5, Kiniksa, 5; I. Wicks, CSL Pty Ltd, 2, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, 12, personal fees; Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, which receives royalty income from the licensing of intellectual property related to the alpha chain of the GM-CSF receptor; M. Samant, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., 3, 11; T. Zhou, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., 3, 11; L. Pupim, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., 3, 11; J. Paolini, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp., 2, 10, 11.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Unizony S, Cid M, Blockmans D, Brouwer E, Dagna L, Dasgupta B, Hellmich B, Molloy E, Salvarani C, Trapnell B, Warrington K, Wicks I, Samant M, Zhou T, Pupim L, Paolini J. Utility of CRP and ESR in the Assessment of Giant Cell Arteritis Relapse in a Phase 2 Trial of Mavrilimumab [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2021; 73 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/utility-of-crp-and-esr-in-the-assessment-of-giant-cell-arteritis-relapse-in-a-phase-2-trial-of-mavrilimumab/. Accessed .
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

« Back to ACR Convergence 2021

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/utility-of-crp-and-esr-in-the-assessment-of-giant-cell-arteritis-relapse-in-a-phase-2-trial-of-mavrilimumab/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology