Predictive biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis

Being a very heterogeneous disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is challenging for treatment. On a group level, some therapy options might be superior compared with others, however, this does not mutually exclude the less effective option to be more suitable for some patients, if the superior therapy option does not help. In different patients the concentration of biomarkers may vary dramatically, however, translation of meaning of these variations for each patient is not feasible yet. Observations and comparisons of these biomarkers before start of therapy between patient groups with different outcome after therapy can help to understand their role and make individualised approach for the therapy choice. Low or moderate levels of a multi-biomarker disease activity (MBDA) score measured at baseline or follow-up visits could identify RA patients at very low risk of radiographic progression (RP). Moreover, in patients with high MBDA score at the start of treatment escalation, those on infliximab+methotrexate (IFX+MTX) therapy had significantly less RP than patients on non-biological triple therapy (TT) (papers I and II). In treatment-naive, early RA, patients who failed respond to MTX were randomized to IFX+MTX or non-biological TT. The categories of the MBDA score at the time of randomisation were differentially associated with treatment outcome after 1 year for these two therapies. Patients with low MBDA score benefited more from TT, while those with high MBDA score responded better to IFX (paper III). Furthermore, when the 12 component biomarkers of the MBDA score were analysed at baseline, four of those (paper IV) as well as two of 177 proteins retrieved from an affinity proteomic study (paper V) were associated with treatment outcome: low disease activity (LDA) and EULAR good response after 3 months of MTX therapy. Combination of these biomarkers within each study also showed improved prediction of treatment outcome. In patients failing on MTX monotherapy who were randomised to addition of biological TNF inhibitor IFX, very low serum IFX (sIFX) level and anti-drug antibody (ADA)-positivity were associated with poorer outcome. Among baseline parameters, female gender predicted very low sIFX level and ADA-positivity at follow-ups, with similar trend for RF-positivity (paper VI). In summary, using combination of serum biomarkers helps to predict and identify preferential therapy option for subsets of patients. Further studies of these biomarkers, if validated, will facilitate personalised therapy approach for subsets of patients

Predicting risk for radiographic damage in rheumatoid arthritis:comparative analysis of the multi-biomarker disease activity score and conventional measures of disease activity in multiple studies

Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease

Drug Tolerant Anti-drug Antibody Assay for Infliximab Treatment in Clinical Practice Identifies Positive Cases Earlier

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)A subgroup of patients treated with infliximab lose response to the treatment and one reason for this is the development of anti-drug antibodies (ADA). If used optimally, measuring drug and ADA level could lead to a more personalized and efficient treatment regime, and enable identification of ADA-positive patients before the underlying disease flares or allergic reactions occur. With the use of a drug-tolerant ADA assay which can detect ADA irrespective of drug levels in the sample, we determined the impact of ADA on treatment failure to infliximab. The aims of this study were to estimate the real-life optimal serum infliximab (sIFX) level and set a clinical threshold value for a drug-tolerant ADA assay. Trough levels of sIFX were measured with ELISA. Free ADA was measured with two drug-sensitive methods (ELISA and a bioassay) and one drug-tolerant method (PandA). Two real-life cohorts treated with infliximab were included; a cross-sectional cohort including patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (n = 270) and a prospective cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (n = 73) followed for 1 year. Normal range of sIFX was estimated from the prospective cohort and an arbitrary optimal drug level was set to be between 1 and 6 μg/mL. Using this range, optimal sIFX was found in only 60% (163/270) of the patients in the cross-sectional cohort. These patients had significantly better treatment response than those with a drug level under 1 μg/mL, who had an ADA frequency of 34% (19/56) using the drug-tolerant method. In the prospective cohort, the drug-tolerant assay could identify 34% (53/155 samples) as ADA positive in samples with sIFX level >0.2 μg/mL. ADA were seldom detected in patients with >1 μg/mL sIFX, with three interesting exceptions. A clinically relevant ADA threshold was determined to be >3 RECL as measured with the drug-tolerant assay. In a real-life setting, there was a substantial number of patients with suboptimal drug levels and a proportion of these had ADA. Both too low and too high drug levels correlated with worse disease, but for different reasons. Adding a drug-tolerant assay enabled detection of ADA earlier and regardless of drug level at time of sampling.We would like to thank all patients for their participation in this study. We would also like to thank Consuelo Gomez, Pascual Gonzalez, Anna G. Mattsson, Arne St?hl, and Yousra Rehouma for excellent technical assistance. Funding. The research leading to these results has received support from Swelife, Stockholm County Council (ALF project) #20140333 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement no. 115303, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies' in kind contribution. This work was also supported by the grants from Aina (Ann) Wallstr?ms och Mary-Ann Sj?bloms Foundation for Medical Research, Professor Nanna Svartz Foundation, the Gothenburg Medical Society (GLS-889421 to RP), the Swedish Rheumatism Association (R-862061 and R-663511 to RP), Adlerbertska research Foundation and the Regional agreement on medical training and clinical research between the Western G?taland county council and the University of Gothenburg (ALFGBG-926621).Peer Reviewe

Bioengineered T cells for Leukaemia and Lymphoma

Cancer immunotherapy is a promising tool for treatment of malignancies. However, there are still hindrances that need to be overcome. Chimeric antigen receptors have the ability to direct immune cytotoxic cells towards tumour-associated antigens in major histocompatibility complex-independent manner. In this study 2 generations of such receptor-bearing T cells, against the CD19 B-cell marker, were investigated for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The 2 nd generation   of this genetically engineered T cell contains CD3ζ  and CD28 intracellular domain, while the third generation has CD137 (4-1BB) in addition. Previous studies have demonstrated advantages of 2 nd  generation chimeric antigen receptor T cells  compared with 1 st generation. In this project the 2 nd and 3 rd generation T   cells  were compared for transduction efficiency, phenotype, proliferative capacity and cytotoxicity in response to antigen from a malignant B cell line. The analysis of transduction showed similar transduction efficiency for both types of chimeric  antigen receptor. However, the data from T cell phenotyping and cytotoxic analysis could not be used for drawing any conclusion, because of too little amount of samples and subsequently, lack of statistical analysis. Further, the proliferative capacity was similar between all transduced T-cell groups and did not give any   conclusive data. The next step will be to stimulate the 2 nd and 3 rd generation T cells with autologous target cells and follow them for a longer time since  allogeneic tumour cell lines trigger an alloreactivity that may mask the different activation states that may occur in the two T cell products

Bioengineered T cells for Leukaemia and Lymphoma

Cancer immunotherapy is a promising tool for treatment of malignancies. However, there are still hindrances that need to be overcome. Chimeric antigen receptors have the ability to direct immune cytotoxic cells towards tumour-associated antigens in major histocompatibility complex-independent manner. In this study 2 generations of such receptor-bearing T cells, against the CD19 B-cell marker, were investigated for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The 2 nd generation   of this genetically engineered T cell contains CD3ζ  and CD28 intracellular domain, while the third generation has CD137 (4-1BB) in addition. Previous studies have demonstrated advantages of 2 nd  generation chimeric antigen receptor T cells  compared with 1 st generation. In this project the 2 nd and 3 rd generation T   cells  were compared for transduction efficiency, phenotype, proliferative capacity and cytotoxicity in response to antigen from a malignant B cell line. The analysis of transduction showed similar transduction efficiency for both types of chimeric  antigen receptor. However, the data from T cell phenotyping and cytotoxic analysis could not be used for drawing any conclusion, because of too little amount of samples and subsequently, lack of statistical analysis. Further, the proliferative capacity was similar between all transduced T-cell groups and did not give any   conclusive data. The next step will be to stimulate the 2 nd and 3 rd generation T cells with autologous target cells and follow them for a longer time since  allogeneic tumour cell lines trigger an alloreactivity that may mask the different activation states that may occur in the two T cell products

Serum biomarkers for prediction of response to methotrexate monotherapy in early rheumatoid arthritis : Results from the SWEFOT trial

Objective. To investigate baseline levels of 12 serum biomarkers that constitute a multibiomarker disease activity test, as predictors of response to methotrexate (MTX) in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (eRA). Methods. In 298 patients from the Swedish Pharmacotherapy (SWEFOT) clinical trial, baseline serum levels of 12 proteins were analyzed for association with disease activity based on the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28) after 3 months of MTX monotherapy using uni-/multivariate logistic regression. Primary outcome was low disease activity (LDA; DAS28 ≤ 3.2). Results. Of 298 patients, 104 achieved LDA after 3 months on MTX. Four of the 12 biomarkers [C-reactive protein (CRP), leptin, tumor necrosis factor receptor I (TNF-RI), and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1)] significantly predicted LDA based on stepwise logistic regression analysis. Dichotomization of patients using receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis-based cutoffs for these biomarkers showed significantly higher proportions with LDA among patients with lower versus higher levels of CRP or leptin (40% vs 23%, p = 0.004, and 40% vs 25%, p = 0.011, respectively), as well as among those with higher versus lower levels of TNF-RI or VCAM-1 (43% vs 27%, p = 0.004, and 41% vs 25%, p = 0.004, respectively). Combined score based on these biomarkers, adjusted for known predictors of LDA (smoking, sex, and age), associated with decreased chance of LDA (adjusted OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.32–0.62). Conclusion. Low baseline levels of CRP and leptin, and high baseline levels of TNF-RI and VCAM-1 were associated with LDA after 3 months of MTX therapy in patients with eRA. Combination of these 4 biomarkers increased accuracy of prediction

Obesity is a strong predictor of worse clinical outcomes and treatment responses in early rheumatoid arthritis: results from the SWEFOT trial

The aim of this paper was to analyse the impact of obesity, in addition to known predictors, on disease outcome in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Body mass index (BMI) was available in 260 patients from the Swedish pharmacotherapy trial (SWEFOT). Differences in disease activity (DAS28), functional impairment (HAQ), pain (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS-pain) and radiographic damage were evaluated over 24 months between BMI categories (obese BMI >30, n=43; overweight BMI=25-29.9, n=74; normal BMI <25, n=143) using non-parametric testing. Predictors of European League Against Rheumatism non-remission (DAS28 ≥2.6) at 24 months of follow-up were evaluated using binary univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Obesity at baseline was associated with worse continuous-scale clinical outcomes over 24 months (DAS28, HAQ and VAS-pain at last visit: obese vs normal: p <0.001; obese vs overweight: p <0.05). Furthermore, obese patients compared with non-obese patients had significantly greater odds of non-remission at 24 months (adjusted OR (aOR) 5.2; 95% CI 1.8 to 15.2). Other independent predictors were female sex (aOR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1 to 5.8), current smoking (aOR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1 to 6.3) and HAQ (per-unit increase, aOR 1.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 3.4). The pattern was similar among seropositive and seronegative patients; and in the subgroups of methotrexate responders and patients randomised at 3 months to add-on of sulfasalazine+hydroxychloroquine, although not significant with add-on of infliximab. Obesity had no independent association to radiographic progression. In this early RA trial reflecting today's standard treatment, obesity, in addition to sex, smoking and functional impairment strongly lowered the chance of attaining good clinical outcomes, including remission, today's treatment goal. This highlights the importance of considering lifestyle modification as one of the cornerstones of RA care. NCT00764725; Post-results. WHO database at the Karolinska University Hospital: CT2008000