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Certain patients with SLE can successfully be tapered off immunosuppressants
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Many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were able to successfully taper-off and discontinue treatment with immunosuppressants, according to research presented at the Canadian Rheumatology Association Annual Meeting.
Researchers studied 1,678 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), of whom 973 were receiving immunosuppressants, 199 had attempted tapering and 99 patients completely withdrew prednisone. Mean patient age at tapering was 40.4 years, and mean disease duration was 9.4 years.
Of the 99 patients, 25 patients had symptom flares within 2 years. Of the 74 patients who did not experience a flare, 46 had clinical follow-up data available beyond 2 years, and 17 experienced a flare after year 2.
Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed 17% of patients experienced disease flare at 1 year, 30% reported a flare at 2 years, 46% reported a flare at 3 years, 49% reported a flare at 4 years and at 5 years, 51% reported disease flare activity.
Logistic regression analysis showed about 75% of clinically stable patients with SLE who withdrew prednisone during remission were not likely to experience a disease flare within 2 years, according to the researchers. In 3 years, about half of patients were successful, and patients remained stable for up to 5 years. Further, patients who tapered down the dose of prednisone and withdrew gradually were even less likely to flare, the researchers reported. - by Shirley Pulawski
Reference:
Touma Z, et at. Paper #12. Presented at: Canadian Rheumatology Association Annual Meeting. Feb. 4-7, 2015; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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