Relapse Risk and Safety of Long-Term Tocilizumab Use Among Patients With Giant Cell Arteritis: A Single-Enterprise Cohort Study

Objective. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ) in giant cell arteritis (GCA) in a large North American cohort. Methods. Patients with GCA treated with TCZ between January 1, 2010, and May 15, 2020, were retrospectively identified. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to estimate time to TCZ discontinuation and time to first relapse after TCZ discontinuation. Poisson regression models were used to compare annualized relapse rates before, during, and after TCZ use. Age- and sex-adjusted risk factors associated with relapse on and off TCZ and development of adverse events of significant interest (AESIs) were examined using Cox models. Results. One hundred fourteen patients (60.5% female) were included with mean (SD) age 70.4 (8.2) years. Median duration from GCA diagnosis to TCZ start was 4.5 months. Median overall duration of TCZ treatment was 2.3 years. Relapse rate prior to TCZ start (0.84 relapses/person-year) was 3-fold reduced while on TCZ (0.28 relapses/person-year; P < 0.001) but increased to 0.64 relapses/person-year after TCZ discontinuation. Fifty-two patients stopped TCZ after a median of 16.8 months; 27 relapsed after discontinuation (median: 8.4 months; 58% relapsed within 12 months). Only 14.9% of patients stopped TCZ because of AESIs. Neither dose/route of TCZ, presence of large-vessel vasculitis, nor duration of TCZ therapy prior to discontinuation predicted relapse after TCZ stop. Conclusion. TCZ is well tolerated in GCA, with low rates of discontinuation for AESIs. However, relapse occurred in > 50% despite median treatment > 12 months. Since the duration of TCZ prior to discontinuation did not significantly affect subsequent risk of GCA recurrence, further research is needed to determine the optimal duration of therapy.