Abatacept 'could help children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis'
A new study has suggested that abatacept could help children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who have previously failed to respond to treatment with other drugs.
The Italian researchers published their findings in the Lancet.
They monitored 190 children aged between six and 17 who suffered from JIA and who had previously failed to respond to at least one disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD).
All the patients were then given abatacept (under the brand name Orencia) intravenously in the open-label period of four months. After this, 60 were randomly assigned to receive doses of abatacept at 28-day intervals for six months. The remaining patients were given a placebo.
It was found that disease flare ups occurred in 53 per cent of patients who were given placebo, but only 20 per cent of abatacept patients.
As a result, Dr Nicolino Ruperto and the rest of the team concluded: "Selective modulation of T-cell costimulation with abatacept is a rational alternative treatment for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis."
However, in an accompanying article, Dr Thomas Lehman called into question the findings. He said that design of the study could have influenced the results.
"Factors can overestimate any potential benefit in clinical practice and underestimate side-effects, obscuring our knowledge of the drug's true risks and benefits," he explained.
A spokeswoman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said that abatacept had recently been turned down by NICE for use in adults with severe rheumatoid arthritis on the grounds of cost.
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