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Early study results show ranibizumab more effective than focal laser treatment for DME
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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Treating patients who have diabetic macular edema with monthly injections of ranibizumab may result in better vision and a greater reduction in retinal thickness than focal laser treatment, according to early results of the LIME trial presented here at the American Society of Retina Specialists annual meeting.
In the ongoing prospective 12-month study, called the Lucentis in the Treatment of Macular Edema trial, Roy A. Goodart, MD, and colleagues are comparing outcomes for diabetic macular edema (DME) patients treated with either monthly 0.5-mg Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) injections or focal laser treatment. Patients are randomized in a 2:1 ratio to one of the two treatment groups.
At the 5-month interim endpoint, 38 patients had been enrolled in the study.
Regarding vision, "the patients who received Lucentis consistently did slightly better than those who had laser, but there was not a major difference between the two groups," Dr. Goodart said.
Specifically, ranibizumab-treated patients improved by an average of two letters, while laser-treated patients showed no vision improvement.
"Patients who received Lucentis had a quicker drop in foveal thickness and maintained that over a period of time," Dr. Goodart said.
A 64-µm decrease in central thickness was seen in ranibizumab-treated patients, compared with a 13-µm decrease in laser-treated patients.
"[Ranibizumab] seems to be well-tolerated, and we are still [continuing] with this study," Dr. Goodart said.